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Frontispiece. 



THEORY AND PRACTICE 



TEACHING 



THE MOTIVES AND METHODS OF 
GOOD SCHOOL KEEPING 



DAVID P. PAGE 

EDITED BY 

E. C. BRANSON 

GEORGIA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL 



3>®<C 



NEW YORK-:. CINCINNATI.:. CHICAGO 

AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 






lEfois 



27888 



Copyright, 1899, by 
AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 

TH. AND PR. OF TEACHING. 

w. p. 1 







^ 



THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE 

Many a meritorious book has failed to find readers 
by reason of a toilsome preface. If the following vol- 
ume meets a similar fate, whatever its merits it shall 
lack a like excuse. 

This work has had its origin in a desire to contribute 
something toward elevating an important and rising 
profession. Its matter comprises the substance of a 
part of the course of lectures addressed to the classes 
of the Institution under my charge, during the past 
two years. Those lectures, unwritten at first, were 
delivered in a familiar, colloquial style, — their main 
object being the inculcation of such practical views as 
would best promote the improvement of the teacher. 
In writing the matter out for the press, the same style, 
to considerable extent, has been retained, — as I have 
written with an aim at usefulness rather than rhetorical 
effect. 

If the term theory in the title suggests to any mind 
the bad sense sometimes conveyed by that word, I 
would simply say that I have not been dealing in the 
speculative dreams of the closet, but in convictions de- 
rived from the realities of the schoolroom during some 

5 



6 PREFACE 

twenty years of actual service as a teacher. Theory 
may justly mean the science distinguished from the a7't 
of Teaching, — but as in practice these should never be 
divorced, so in the following chapters I have endeavored 
constantly to illustrate the one by the other. 

If life should be spared and other circumstances 
should warrant the undertaking, perhaps a further 
course comprising the Details of TeacJiing may, at 
some future time, assume a similar form to complete 
my original design. 

DAVID P. PAGE. 

State Normal School, 
Albany, N.Y., Jan. i, 1847. 



THE EDITOR'S PREFACE 

The text of this book is Mr. Page's own without 
material change except in one instance. Chapter IL 
has been inserted more because the editor values the 
subject than the matter. Fitness to Teach is one of 
the fundamental questions that Mr. Page did not treat 
specifically in his original volume. 

The chapters have been followed by Analyses, Re- 
views, References, and such other items as serve to 
make a text-book out of a book of lectures ; and so to 
heighten its value for private students, for class rooms, 
and reading circles. 

E. C. BRANSON. 

Georgia State Normal School. 



CONTENTS 



Biographical Sketch of the Author 
Topical Outline 
Table of Chronology 

Spirit of the Teacher . . 
Topical Outline 
Subjects for Discussion or Essays 



II. 



III. 



IV. 



Fitness to Teach 
Topical Outline 
Readings 



VI. 



VII. 



Responsibility of the Teacher 
Topical Quiz .... 
Written Exercises . 
Page's Order of Studies . 

Personal Habits of the Teacher 
Review Quiz . . . . . 
Habits Worth Cultivating 
Significant Thoughts about Habit . 
Readings 



Literary Qualifications of the Teacher 
Topical Outline 
Quotations .... 



Right Views of Education . 
Topical Outline 
Subjects for Discussion or Essays 

Right Modes of Teaching 
Topical Outline 

Subjects for Discussion or Essays 
9 



PAGES 
II- 20 

19 

20 

21- 25 
25 
.25 

26- 39 

37 
39 

40- 66 
62 
64 
64 

67- 1^ 
75 
75 
76 

77 

78- 94 

92 

94 

95-109 
108 
109 

110-137 

135 

137 



lO 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER 

VIII. Conducting Recitations . 

Topical Quiz .... 
Forms of the Recitation 
Subjects for Discussion or Essays 

IX. Exciting Interest in Study . 
Topical Outline 
Subjects for Discussion or Essays 

X. School Government 
Topical Outline 
Subjects for Discussion or Essays 

XI. School Arrangements 
Topical Outline 
Subjects for Discussion or Essays 

XII. The Teacher's Relation to the Parents of 
HIS Pupils 
Topical Outline 
Subjects for Discussion or Essays 



XIII. 



The Teacher's Care of his Health 
Topical Outline .... 
Subjects for Discussion or Essays . 



XIV. The Teacher's Relation to his Profession 
Topical Quiz .... 
Readiness .... 



XV. 



XVI. 



Miscellaneous Suggestions . 
Topical Outline 
Written Exercises . 

The Rewards of the Teacher 
Topical Outline 



PAGES 

138-154 

151,153 

152 
154 

I55-I8I 

180 

181 

182-246 

242 

246 

247-276 
276 

277-284 

283 

284 

285-298 
297 
297 
298 

299-319 

318 

318 

320-357 

355 
357 

358-372 
372 



Index 



373 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE 
OF TEACHING 

A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DAVID 
PERKINS PAGE 

1. His Boyhood. — ■ David Perkins Page was born in 
1 8 10, at Epping, a small village in New Hampshire. 
His father was a farmer in moderate circumstances. 
He intended that his son should follow his own calling, 
for which an education appeared to him useless. The 
boy, who had a passionate love of books and an ardent 
desire for knowledge, was kept at work on the farm, 
and denied any education beyond what the inferior dis- 
trict schools of that day afforded. But from Nature he 
learned the valuable lessons which she stands ever ready 
to teach to those who will give ear ; and doubtless, he 
was indebted to his early life on the farm for two excel- 
lent habits — the habit of hard toil and that of persist- 
ence in an undertaking to the point of mastery. 

2. A Crisis in his Life. — When he was sixteen years 
of age, a severe illness brought him near to death. As 
his father bent over him to catch what he believed to be 
his son's last words, the lad looked him full into the face 
and whispered feebly, " Father, if I get well, may I go 
to^ Hampton Academy.'^" The father, overcome with 
grief, gave the promise. David recovered, and went to 
Hampton, where he spent about a year, teaching a win- 
ter school meantime in his native village. 



12 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

3. The Schoolboy, — Page's schoolmates at Hamp- 
ton amused themselves at his expense with jeers and 
laughter at his simple, homemade clothes. But this 
ridicule left no trace upon young Page beyond a lasting 
contempt for fops and boors. The boy was an eager, 
anxious student ; he studied as he had plowed — with 
all his might and main, and he easily turned his furrow 
ahead of the idlers in the school. 

4. The Country School-teacher. — This year of aca- 
demic training gave him the needed start. His career 
as a teacher began with the winter school he taught 
near his home, when he was barely seventeen years old. 
The next three years he taught in the district schools of 
his native state, working and studying all the while to 
educate himself for teaching. For he had begun to 
realize that he must give himself whatever further edu- 
cation he was to have. He never went to college, but 
his studies at home and in his schoolroom fitted him at 
last to become the president of a great institution. 

5. The Private School-teacher. — At nineteen 
years of age, he taught a public school at Newbury, 
Massachusetts, and later opened a private school in the 
same place. It was a bold undertaking for a young man, 
but four years of teaching here and there had convinced 
him that the wandering school-teacher is not Hkely to be 
worthful or to demonstrate his worth. A plant does not 
grow well when transplanted too often. Page's private 
school was a decided success. He remained at Newbury 
two years, and was then called to larger responsibilities 
by the school authorities of Newburyport. 

6. The Teacher Student. — In 1831, in his twenty- 
first year, this self-taught school-teacher was made the 
associate principal of the Newburyport High School, 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 1 3 

and placed at the head of the Department of English. 
And responsible as this position was, the young teacher 
was well fitted to perform his duties ; for Page was a 
hard student as well as a conscientious teacher, and 
prepared himself in advance, so that when the oppor- 
tunity came he was ready to accept it. 

7. The Growing School-teacher. — He remained in 
the Newburyport High School for twelve years, putting 
his very best labor into his work, continuing his studies 
and widening his influence — getting ready for another 
step upward. He became an active and influential mem- 
ber of the Essex County Teachers' Association, and 
one of his lectures before that body, on "The Mutual 
Duties of Parents and Teachers," was characterized by 
Horace Mann as the best of its kind ever delivered. 
Mr. Mann had six thousand copies of it printed for 
general distribution, bearing one half of the expense 
himself. Other .lectures of this growing young teacher 
were printed and distributed in similar ways. 

8. His Call to Albany. — Meanwhile the legisla- 
ture of New York, following the lead of Massachu- 
setts, decided to establish a State Normal School. A 
committee, charged with the delicate task of selecting 
a principal, wrote to Horace Mann for advice. He 
at once recommended David Page. Correspondence 
was opened with Mr. Page, whose letters so impressed 
the committee that one of the members exclaimed, *' I 
am satisfied. That is the man we need." Still, to be 
sure of making no mistake, the committee sent another 
of its members to Newburyport for a personal conference 
with Mr. Page. A half-hour's conversation closed the ne- 
gotiation, and in 1844 Page left Newburyport to become 
principal of the new State Normal School at Albany. 



14 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

9. His Friend Horace Mann. — On his way to Al- 
bany, Mr. Page spent a night in Boston with his friend 
Horace Mann. Mr. Mann was the first secretary of 
the Massachusetts Board of Education (1837-48). He 
was the great leader of the common-school movement 
in the United States — a truly great man, who loved 
the cause of public schools, and devoted himself to 
their uplifting. It was no small credit to a young 
teacher to have won the approval of a man like Horace 
Mann. Page received from him many words of help 
and inspiration to guide him in his new work. " Suc- 
ceed or die," said Mr. Mann in parting, and Page 
did both, winning success, but at the expense of his 
life. 

10. Solving a Difficult Problem. — Page reached 
Albany in December, 1844, a few days before the date 
set for the opening of the school. He found that the 
state had provided no quarters for the *' new experi- 
ment," as it was doubtfully called. The city of Albany, 
however, had granted the temporary use of a building. 
The hammers of the carpenters were still sounding 
upon it when Mr. Page opened the school with a small 
class of twenty-nine students, December 18, 1844. 

There were no adequate arrangements or provisions 
for the school — no apparatus, no plans of organization, 
no well-defined purposes, and few precedents or pro- 
fessional text-books and guides. Few people wished 
or expected the experiment to succeed. The many were 
indifferent, or frankly desired its failure and freely 
prophesied it. The newspapers and politicians found 
it popular to discredit the undertaking. Even the 
teachers in the academies and colleges combined against 
it. They doubted the need for such a school, criticised 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 1 5 

its practical operations, and sometimes went so far as 
to malign the character of its principal. 

11. Page's Resources. — Here was urgent need for 
a self-reliant head, a man of genius — energetic, de- 
voted, wise, practical, adroit, and resourceful. Page 
was all this and more. He was a man and a gentle- 
man, strong and kind — a leader as well as a teacher, 
a graceful and effective speaker as well as an organ- 
izer, conscious of his power and everywhere capable 
of inspiring confidence in the success of his under- 
taking. 

The plans and details of the school were quickly 
resolved upon, and it settled down safely upon lines of 
work which later became the model for all such schools. 
Detractors were silenced and enemies w^re rapidly 
converted into friends, the new governor among them. 
Finding no suitable text-book upon the theory and 
practice of teaching, he proceeded to make one. 
Although more than half a century old, there is hardly 
a judgment in this book that needs to be revised. It is 
a wise book — a book for all time. " It comes nearer 
being a classic than any other book on teaching ever 
written in America." (Hinsdale.) A teacher who has 
not mastered his Page will some day be as ridiculous 
as a lawyer who has not thoroughly thumbed his Black- 
stone. 

12. Success. — The new term opened in May with 
two hundred students. Commodious accommodations 
were provided. Four years had not gone by before the 
school had ceased to be a mere experiment. It had 
everywhere become an acknowledged success, and was 
too deeply rooted in the affections of the pubHc to be 
uptorn. 



1 6 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

But the campaign had been a long and arduous one. 
Page had spent his vacations, not in rest, but in travel 
and toil, lecturing day by day before teachers' institutes 
and popular audiences, everywhere making friends for 
the school, and winning for himself golden opinions 
from all sorts of people. 

13. Death. — The fall term of 1 847 found him cheer- 
ful and hopeful, but with waning physical strength. 
Still he went his customary round of visitation, call- 
ing upon each student to offer words of good cheer 
and advice. One day he said to his faculty, " I have 
visited them all. It is a severe task. Hereafter I 
must have your aid." They begged him to rest. He 
agreed to do so, and planned a trip for the Christmas 
hohdays. The evening before his departure, the faculty 
met at his residence. He complained of feehng ill, ex- 
cused himself, and retired early. Pneumonia developed 
rapidly, and his feeble frame yielded quickly to its 
ravages. He passed away upon New Year's day, 1848, 
and lies buried with Whitfield in the old cemetery at 
Newburyport, Massachusetts. 

14. What Manner of Man he was. — His life was 
brief as men count time ; but he strove not to live long, 
but to live well. If men are to be measured by the 
length of their shadows in history. Page was a great 
man. His book has instructed and inspired more 
teachers than any other ever published in this country. 
He helped to uplift the whole idea of teaching in the 
minds of men. Page felt that teaching is not a task 
for drudges, but that "to educate the human soul aright" 
is a calling for High Priests. The spirit of his Hfe was 
" Look up and lift up." Students of his book who have 
not caught this spirit of his have missed the man while 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 1 7 

• 

thumbing his pages. Page himself is the best thing in 
his book. 

15. How HE CAME TO SUCCEED. — It is easy to account 
in a measure for the rise to eminence of this farmer lad. 
He was hungry for an education, and the dominant desire 
of his life was to be, not famous, but helpful. Energy 
of this sort never goes to waste. He was willing to 
spend himself to the uttermost to achieve his high ideals. 
He knew how to toil unwearyingly. He planned his 
work of teaching and self-teaching, and his will fell upon 
his tasks like a trip hammer. The weariness of a day's 
hard work was lost at night in his passion for study. 
He prepared his next day's lessons thoroughly. He 
hunted down the principles underlying the facts to be 
taught. He cultivated the habit of complete mastery of 
subjects. He carried on collateral studies systematically. 
While teaching common-school subjects, he studied Eng- 
lish literature. While teaching English, he took up 
Latin and the higher mathematics. While spending his 
strength at Albany, he was settling down to a mastery 
of Greek. All the while he schooled himself laboriously 
in composition, debate, and lecturing. He cultivated 
also the social side of his nature and knew how to meet 
people pleasantly. He learned how to disarm prejudice. 
Thoughtfulness enriched all experiences in his work; so 
that from his mistakes he learned his most valuable les- 
sons. He schooled himself to the self-control and good 
humor that won him so many battles in his Albany 
campaign. He was not merely a model teacher, but a 
model man. 

16. The Lesson of his Life. — It has been well said 
that a large part of genius is susceptibility to excite- 
ment — readiness to be set afire wholly and to glow 

B.-P. THE. & PR. TEACHING — 2 



1 8 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

steadily in the prosecution of a distinct purpose in life. 
It is worth a fortune to a young person to be well 
stirred up by any worthy motive. The teacher who can 
be profoundly aroused about the concerns of his call- 
ing is almost sure to have a career of usefulness. No 
true teachers can fail to be moved by the simple story 
of David Page's life. It is the story of the rise of a 
self-instructed country school-teacher, out of obscurity 
into public power ; the story of one whose thirst for 
knowledge was unquenchable, whose zeal was unflag- 
ging, whose courage was -unfailing, and whose nobility 
of character steadily bore him upward in men's esteem. 
A country school-teacher himself, he took the country 
school-teachers of America to his heart. The lesson of 
his life is this : *' A noble desire is both a promise and 
a prophecy of its fulfillment.'* 

" There will always be men whom nothing can keep 
uneducated, men like Franklin and Bowditch, who can 
break down every obstacle ; men gifted with such tenac- 
ity of resolution, such vigor of thought, such power of self- 
control, that they live on difficulties, and seem strongest 
when fed most abundantly with that rugged fare ; men 
that go forth strong as the sun and as lonely, nor brook 
to take assistance from the world of men. For such 
no provision is needed. They fight their own battles, 
for they are born fully armed, terrible from their very 
beginning. To them dif^culty is nothing. Poverty 
but makes them watchful. Shut out from books and 
teachers, they have instructors in the birds and beasts, 
and whole Vatican libraries in the trees and stones. 
They fear no discouragement. They go the errand 
God sent them, trusting in him to bless the gift he 
gave. They beat the mountain of difficulty into dust, 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 1 9 

and get the gem it could not hide from an eye piercing 
as Argus'. But these men are rare — exceptions to the 
rule; strong souls in much-enduring flesh." Well did 
Page himself fulfill Plato's ideal of the wise man — an 
ideal with which he would fain have inspired every 
teacher : " A lover not of a part of wisdom, but of the 
whole ; who has a taste for every sort of knowledge and 
is curious to learn, and is never satisfied ; who has mag- 
nificence of mind, and is the spectator of all time and 
all existence ; who is harmoniously constituted ; of a 
well-proportioned and gracious mind, whose own nature 
will move spontaneously toward the true being of every- 
thing ; who has a good memory, and is quick to learn ; 
noble, gracious, the friend of truth, justice, courage, 
temperance." 



TOPICAL OUTLINE 

1. Page's boyhood. 

2. A crisis in his life. 

3. The schoolboy. 

4. The country school-teacher. 

5. The private school-teacher. 

6. The teacher student. 

7. The growing school-teacher. 

8. His call to Albany. 

9. His friend Horace Mann. 

10. Solving a difficult problem. 

11. Page's resources. 

12. Success. 

13. Death. 

14. The manner of man he was. 

15. How he came to succeed. 

16. The lesson of his life. 



20 



THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 



TABLE OF CHRONOLOGY 



Date. 


Age. 


Places. 


Events. 


1810 




Epping, N.H. 


Born. A farmer's son. 


1816 


16 


Epping, N.H. 


111. Goes to Hampton Acad- 
emy one year. Teaches 
country schools in New 
Hampshire three years. 


1829 


19 


Newbury, Mass. 


Teaches a public school . Opens 
a private school. 


183I 


21 


Newburyport, Mass. 


Associate Principal Newbury- 
port High School. 


1844 


34 


Albany, N.Y. 


Principal State Normal School. 


1848 


38 


Albany, N.Y. 


Died. 






Newburyport, Mass. 


Buried. 



CHAPTER I 

THE SPIRIT OF THE TEACHER 

" I would have my children able at each moment from morning 
to evening to read on my face and to divine on my lips that my 
heart is devoted to them ; that their happiness and their joys are 
my happiness and my joys.^' — Pestalozzi. 

Perhaps the very first question that the honest 
individual will ask himself, as he proposes to assume 
the teacher's office, or to enter upon a preparation for. 
it, will be — ''What manner of spirit am I off No 
question can be more important. I would by no means 
undervalue that degree of natural talent — of mental 
power, which all justly consider so desirable in the 
candidate for the teacher's office. But the true spirit 
of the teacher, — a spirit that seeks not alone pecuniary 
emolument, but desires to be in the highest degree use- 
ful to those who are to be taught ; a spirit that elevates 
above everything else the nature and capabilities of the 
human soul, and that trembles under the responsibiHty 
of attempting to be its educator ; a spirit that looks 
upon gold as the contemptible dross of earth, when 
compared with that imperishable gem which is to be 
polished and brought out into heaven's Hght to shine 
forever; a spirit that scorns all the rewards of earth, 
and seeks that highest of all rewards, an approving 
conscience and an approving God ; a spirit that ear- 
nestly inquires what is right, and that dreads to do what 



22 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

is wrong ; a spirit that can recognize and reverence the 
handiwork of God in every child, and that burns with 
the desire to be instrumental in training it to the highest 
attainment of which it is capable, — sucJi a sphit is the 
first thing to be sought by the teacher, and without it 
the highest talent cannot make him truly excellent in 
his profession. 

The candidate for the office of teacher should look 
well to his motives. It is easy to enter upon the duties 
of the teacher without preparation ; it is easy to do it 
without that lofty purpose which an enlightened con- 
science would ever demand ; but it is not so easy to 
undo the mischief which a single mistake may produce 
in the mind of the child, at that tender period when 
-mistakes are most likely to be made. 

Too many teachers are found in our schools without 
the spirit for their work which is here insisted on. 
They not only have not given attention to any prepara- 
tion for their work, but resort to it from motives of 
personal convenience, and in many instances from a 
consciousness of being unfit for everything else ! In 
other professions this is not so. The lawyer is not 
admitted to the bar till he has pursued a course of 
thorough preparation, and even then but warily em- 
ployed. The physician goes through his course of 
reading and his course of lectures, and often almost 
through a coiir'se of starvation in the country village 
where he first puts up his sign, before he is called in to 
heal the maladies of the body. It is long before he can 
inspire confidence enough in the people to be intrusted 
with their most difficult cases of ailing, and very Hkely 
the noon of life is passed before he can consider himself 
estabUshed. But it is not so with the teacher. He 



SPIRIT OF THE TEACHER 



23 



gains access to the sanctuary of mind without dif- 
ficulty, and the most tender interests for both worlds 
are intrusted to his guidance, even when he makes 
pretension to no higher motive than that of fiUing up a 
few months of time not otherwise appropriated, and to 
no qualifications but those attained by accident. A late 
writer in the Journal of Education hardly overstates 
this matter : " Every stripling who has passed four 
years within the walls of a college ; every dissatisfied 
clerk who has not ability enough to manage the trifling 
concerns of a common retail shop ; every young farmer 
who obtains in the winter a short vacation from the toils 
of summer, — in short, every young person who is con- 
scious of his imbecility in other business, esteems him- 
self fully competent to train the ignorance and weakness 
of infancy into all the virtue and power and wisdom of 
maturer years, — to form a creature, the frailest and 
feeblest that heaven has made, into the intelligent and 
fearless sovereign of the whole animated creation, the 
interpreter and adorer and almost the representative of 
Divinity ! " 

Many there are who enter upon the high employment 
of teaching a common school as a secondary object. 
Perhaps they are students themselves in some higher 
institution, and resort to this as a temporary expedient 
for paying their board, while their chief object is to 
pursue their own studies, and thus keep pace with their 
classes. Some make it a stepping-stone to something 
beyond, and, in their estimation, higher in the scale of 
respectabihty, — treating the employment, while in it, 
as irksome in the extreme, and never manifesting so 
much delight as when the hour arrives for the dismissal 
of their schools. Such have not the true spirit of the 



24 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

teacher ; and if their labors are not entirely unprofitable, 
it only proves that children are sometimes submitted to 
imminent danger but are still unaccountably preserved 
by the hand of Providence. 

The teacher should go to his duty full of his work. 
He should be impressed with its overwhelming impor- 
tance. He should feel that his mistakes, though they 
may not speedily ruin him, may permanently injure his 
pupils. Nor is it enough that he shall say, " I did it 
ignorantly." He has assumed to fill a place where 
ignorance itself is sin ; and where indifference to the 
well-being of others is equivalent to willful homicide. 
He might as innocently assume to be the physician, 
and, without knowing its effects, prescribe arsenic for 
the colic. Ignorance is not in such cases a valid excuse, 
because the assumption of the place implies a pretension 
to the requisite skill. Let the teacher, then, well con- 
sider what manner of spirit .he is of. Let him come to 
this work only when he has carefully pondered its nature 
and its responsibilities, and after he has devoted his 
best powers to a thorough preparation of himself for its 
high duties. Above all, let him be sure that his motives 
on entering the schoolroom are such as will be accept- 
able in the sight of God, when viewed by the light 
beaming out from his throne. 

"Oh! let not then unskillful hands attempt 
To play the harp, whose tones, whose living tones, 
Are left forever in the strings. Better far 
That heaven's lightnings blast his very soul, 
And sink it back to Chaos' lowest depths, 
Than knowingly, by word or deed, he send 
A blight upon the trusting mind of youth." 



SPIRIT OF THE TEACHER 2.5 

TOPICAL OUTLINE 

1. An important personal question. 

2. The true teacher spirit. 

Read Educational Mosaics, p. loo, " Reverence for Boys." 

3. Unworthy motives. 

4. The physician and the teacher compared. 

Read Educational Mosaics, pp. 127, 242, "The Teacher's 
Responsibility" ; Idein^ p. 189, "A Work for Eternity." 

5. Unworthy applicants to teach. 

The absurdity and the danger. 

6. The sin of ignorance and indifference. 

Read Morgan's Studies in Pedagogy, p. 269. 

SUBJECTS FOR DISCUSSION OR ESSAYS 

1. Indications of proper and of improper spirit in the teacher. 

2. Worthy and unworthy motives in teaching. 

3. What motives are and why they are so important. 

Read Davis's Psycholog}^, Part Fifth. 

4. Copy and memorize the stanza closing the chapter. 



CHAPTER II 

FITNESS TO TEACH 

" Although one man may possess more capacity than another, yet 
none can be found who cannot be improved by cultivation." — 

QUINTILIAN. 

Fitness to teach is a question of nature and of 
nurture ; of native aptitude on the one hand, and of 
necessary acquirements on the other. Teachers can 
be developed ; they cannot be manufactured. They 
can be developed only out of fit material. There are 
born musicians, but it takes years of painful cultivation 
to put them into full possession of their birthrights. 
And some are born fit for teaching, but they are not yet 
fit to teach for all that, until they have acquired the 
necessary instrumental knowledge and skill. Without 
systematic and extensive culture and self-culture, native 
teaching talent falls short of its highest capabiHties, or 
may go to waste ahogether. '' Not even genius can 
afford to ignore the wisdom of the race " said Emerson. 
We call Edison a genius ; still he has steeped his mind 
in the largest private library of science in America. 
OriginaUty feeds upon suggestion, and the fullest knowl- 
edge is necessary for its finest achievements. 

The first question then is, Am I natively fit for teach- 
ing .? If not, it is doubtful if any amount of scholarship 
and culture will avail to make me a teacher. Here are 

26 



FITNESS TO TEACH 2^ 

some of the indications of native fitness for teaching : 
insight, sense, sympathy, conscience, and courage. 

The teacher should be endowed with insight ; that is, 
the power to read character well ; to fathom motives 
and to play upon them at will ; to interpret the moods 
and tempers, attitudes and actions of pupils, and to 
judge these wisely or direct them adroitly ; to spy out 
individual tastes and talents, and to minister to them 
appropriately ; to sense a pupil's difficulty or need, and 
to suit the teaching to his necessities. Insight works by 
no conscious rules, and with no conscious effort. It is 
a magnificent endowment, and alone sometimes carries a 
teacher a long way toward success. 

The teacher should be endowed with sense ; that is, 
equipoise, balance of judgment. The teacher who is 
not easily thrown off his balance by little things or large, 
is the teacher endowed with sense. The habits of fault- 
finding and threatening, chronic ill terhper and peevish- 
ness, sarcasm and coarseness, bragging and bluster, all 
indicate an ill-balanced judgment. They indicate a lack 
of sense — nothing more or worse, perhaps. 

Nothing puts out the eye of judgment and unhinges 
the reason like anger. *' Anger is drunkenness without 
wine." The angry teacher is apt to outrage all judg- 
ment, and to be both unjust and unwise. Certainly it 
does not take much sense to be a chronic fault-finder. 
The sensible teacher does not threaten or blow or blus- 
ter. He soon learns that children are controlled not so 
much by what he says, as by what he does ; and not so 
much by what is done as by the man behind it all. 
What a man is reenforces or weakens all that he says or 
does. Sarcasm and coarseness are an offense against 
good sense even more than against good breeding. 



28 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

Caprice and sensitiveness ought, perhaps, to be added 
to this Hst of sins against sense. The whimsical, capri- 
cious teacher with orders under one arm and counter- 
orders under the other, who veers about in his judgments 
like a weather vane, is not a man at all, but an overgrown 
child. Caprice is a mark of childishness. Manhood is 
marked by rational knowledge, rational motives, and 
rational existence. It is hard to be both sensitive and 
sensible. Sensitive people, easily offended, are not apt 
to deal wisely or helpfully with either children or parents. 

On the other hand, quiet composure, self-control, mod- 
eration good humor, fairness, firmness, and decisiveness 
are evidences of well-balanced judgment. They indicate 
sense. You will notice that these qualities are necessary 
elements of tact. Tact is only well-bred common sense. 
It is the power of doing disagreeable things agreeably. 

The teacher should be endowed with sympathy ; that 
is, the power to put himself in the child's place and 
to feel with him and for him ; to be touched with the 
feehng of his small infirmities ; to look at things from 
his point of view ; to realize his perplexities and difficul- 
ties tenderly and patiently ; to stand in the center of 
the child's little world of ideas and interests, motives 
and ideals, and to be for it a source of illuminating, 
quickening power. '' Sympathy is a kind of sunshine 
in which everything will grow but sin." It is hard to 
overstate the regenerative power of sympathy and love. 
Still it must not be forgotten that childhood needs the 
discipUne of law as well as the discipHne of love. 

To be hard and harsh, cold and unsympathetic, means 
radical unfitness for teaching. The unsympathetic 
teacher is out of place in the schoolroom. 

The teacher should be endowed with a sensitive 



FITNESS TO TEACH 29 

conscience ; that is, an instinctive reverence for truth, a 
strong love of right, a wholesome fear of wrongdoing. 
It ought to be said of him : '' He fears no man ; he fears 
only to do wrong." He ought to be a man of clear 
moral ideas, who discerns wrong in all its guises and dis- 
guises, who is moved not by passion but by principle, 
who sets duty before pleasure, who exalts the child's 
well-being above his own, who hates a lie and turns 
with loathing from all vice and uncleanness. 

The true teacher has no choice but to satisfy con- 
science and judgment in his round of school duties, even 
at the expense of popularity and place. The man who 
reverences his conscience as his king, cannot be kicked 
into a basement story. To-day or to-morrow, in this 
century or the next, he is sure to be found in some 
upper story of men's esteem. The teacher can always 
afford to do right ; he can never afford to do wrong. 
The desire for mere popularity is a snare set for every 
young teacher. The right thing is not always the 
popular thing ; but it is always something better. 

The teacher should be endowed with courage ; that 
is, the will to assault wrong, to stand true to convictions, 
to stand firm against evil, to resist all influences, both 
within and without, that threaten the soul's integrity. 

'' God's will can never be made manifest by cowards." 
The cringing teacher falls into contempt inevitably. 
Men forget and forgive wickedness sooner than they 
forget and forgive weakness. Indeed, weakness is the 
mother of wickedness. Have you had a clear vision of 
some right thing } Then stand for it stoutly and fear- 
lessly. 

But do not mistake rashness for courage. Rashness 
is impetuous impulse without judgment; courage is 



30 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

bottomed upon conscience and coolness, judgment and 
Avill. Rashness relies upon what it can do ; courage 
upon what is right to be done. Rashness blusters like 
a March wind ; courage awes like the stillness of a 
coming storm. Rashness is the humor of a moment ; 
courage is the enduring bed-rock of character. Rash- 
ness is apt to be ridiculous ; but courage is always 
grand. The rash teacher is sport for children ; they 
stand in wholesome awe of courage. It cannot be 
wheedled or bribed, affrighted or routed. Cowardice 
and cringing indicate radical unfitness for teaching. 
A great man once said : " Teachers are constitutional 
cowards, as a rule." Is it so.'' 

But these endowments of birth, precious as they 
are, will not avail alone. Native aptitude needs to be 
enriched and developed by academic scholarship, by 
study of psychology, pedagogy, and methods, and by 
a thoughtful experience in teaching. No one of these 
alone, nor any combination of these short of them all, 
will enable the teacher to reach the full limit of his 
capabilities. Evidently, fitting oneself to be a teacher 
is a long and arduous work, but it is a grand undertaking 
for noble natures. " Next to creating a human soul, the 
divinest thing in life is to educate it aright," said Plato. 

First of all, native aptitude for teaching needs to 
be enriched and developed by academic scholarship. 
That is, a teacher needs to have a thorough knowledge 
of the subjects to be taught. It is absurd to set up to 
be a teacher without scholarship to this extent at the 
very least. Nothing can substitute accurate and mas- 
terly scholarship in teaching or apologize for its lack 
in the teacher. It is the teacher's business — it is his 
solemn duty — to know thoroughly what he undertakes 



FITNESS TO TEACH 3 1 

to teach. '' He has assumed to fill a place where igno- 
rance itself is sin, and where indifference to the well- 
being of others is equivalent to willful homicide," said 
David Page. 

Moreover, the teacher's knowledge needs to extend 
far beyond what he teaches day by day. He must 
know a great deal in order to teach a little well. He 
must be a student as well as a teacher, a true lover of 
learning — ardent, systematic, and persistent in enlarg- 
ing the range of his scholarship. He ought always to 
be a learner everywhere and from everything. Study 
ought to be to him an increasing joy and not a depress- 
ing burden. 

He must learn the secret of success in study ; which 
is, according to Agricola, to persist till he has clear 
views of a subject, then to fix firmly in memory what 
is understood, and then to produce something of his 
own out of his gains from others. Scholarship is a 
result of intellectual income ; but culture is a result of 
intellectual output. " The caterpillar eats mulberry 
leaves, but he spins silk," said Montaigne. Cultivate 
the habit of striking a thought of your own out of the 
thoughts of others ; hunt for underlying principles ; lay 
in a stock of fundamental notions. These are intellec- 
tual seed corn from which a harvest of your own may 
come in due season. But learn also to think concretely ; 
that is, learn to illustrate what you know. It is safe to 
say of a teacher that he does not know efficiently what 
he cannot illustrate aptly. 

When you cease to be an efficient student you cease 
to be an effective teacher. Adding to what we know 
is a condition of retaining what we know. The teacher 
who studies less than his pupils will soon know less 



32 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

than his pupils. If you are a poor scholar and a poor 
student, you must always be at a disadvantage — must 
always be a hopeless drudge ; for the way to larger 
honors, larger rewards, and larger usefulness will always 
be firmly barred against you. 

Fortunately, the way to education is now smooth for 
every young teacher who seeks it. If you cannot go to 
college, then teach yourself the studies in a college 
course, as so many others have done. He that can 
teach others certainly can teach himself. To be sure, 
the teacher's work is hard work, and he must rest ; but 
resting easily gets to be rusting. More teachers rust 
out than wear out. Not even Normal schools can make 
good teachers out of poor scholars. *' A good scholar, 
however, is not a man who knows a great deal ; but a 
man who is struggling to know a great deal." Any 
of us can be scholars in this magnificent sense. 

Native aptitude for teaching needs, also, to be enriched 
and developed by a study of Psychology. 

Psychology is a systematic study of the facts and 
laws of human nature. It helps the teacher to realize 
what education rightly is ; to judge what is genuinely 
educative and what is not; to determine the natural 
order in which a child's mind develops, and the laws 
of that development ; to puzzle out a suitable order of 
studies ; and to have clear views of the principles and 
purposes of good teaching. 

The teacher needs to know not only as much as pos- 
sible about the subjects to be taught, but also as much 
as possible about the child to be taught. He needs to 
be a scientific as well as a sympathetic student of the 
nature and necessities of the being intrusted to him to 
be educated. It must be a reckless teacher indeed who 



FITNESS TO TEACH 33 

will experiment blindly at the expense and peril of 
childhood. His mistakes mar God's handiwork for 
eternity. It is awful for human souls to go out of our 
schools maimed and halt and blind. A conscientious 
teacher will diligently seek to know all that he possibly 
can know about the nature and needs of the children 
committed to his care and keeping. 

He must have a scientific view of Psychology as ex- 
hibited in some good text-book; he must faithfully 
review the book in the experiences of his own life ; and 
he must study Psychology in books and in his own life, 
with the distinct purpose of coming to understand the 
child he teaches. In the lifelong endeavors he must 
make to become a teacher, let it be said of him at last : 
"And he set a little child in the midst of them." 

It may be startling, but it is true, that the teacher's 
professional enlargement is limited by his knowledge of 
Psychology, whatever be the nature of that knowledge 
or however it may have been gained. Sometimes, with- 
out a study of formal psychology, a teacher learns a 
great deal about child nature, through native insight, 
sense, and sympathy. Certainly without these endow- 
ments, any study of formal psychology would avail the 
teacher httle. 

But native aptitude for teaching needs still further 
to be enriched and developed by a study of Pedagogy. 

Pedagogy is a record of the educational experiences 
and experiments of the race. No teacher can afford to 
ignore the accumulations of race wisdom about educa- 
tion. Pedagogy enables the teacher to know what the 
great world has thought and said and done in his special 
field of endeavor, and what the common sense of men 
has approved and what it has discarded in the work of 

B.-P. THE. & PR. TEACHING — 3 



34 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

teaching. It enables him to learn quickly and safely 
what the race has learned slowly and painfully. It 
makes him aware of the grand march of educational 
ideals and efforts toward perfection. It saves the 
teacher from pitching his tent in the graveyard of dead 
experiments. 

But best of all it brings the teacher into the shadow 
of great personalities. There is no estimating the value 
of a teacher's coming to know such men as Comenius 
and Froebel, Dr. Arnold and Mark Hopkins, David 
Page and Horace Mann, Dr. Payne and Dr. Harris. 

Native aptitude for teaching needs, also, to be en- 
riched and developed by a study of methods of teaching. 

Methodology, as it is sometimes called, is an orderly 
body of truth concerning schoolroom practices. It is a 
practical application of Psychology to teaching. It is 
based upon the proposition that the matter and methods 
of teaching shall satisfy the nature of the child, and 
relate him fitly to the world into which he is born. 

It helps the teacher in forming safe judgments about 
matters of constant concern in his daily work ; for 
instance, the primary conditions of knowledge, the laws 
of acquisition, incentives to study, and to righteous self- 
control, the sources of knowledge and the values and 
limitations of each, the analysis of subjects, courses of 
study, the essential idea in instruction, in teaching, in 
disciphne ; the conduct of recitations, the nature and 
uses of inductive and deductive teaching ; the values 
and Hmitations of oral instruction, and of text-book 
study ; the assignment and preparation of lessons ; 
ranking, marking, reports, examinations, and a hundred 
other practical questions. 

If the thoughtful teacher be conditioned wisely, he 



FITNESS TO TEACH 



35 



may be trusted to find his own way to a wise end, and 
under strong impulse he is likely to do so. '' The re- 
sourceful teacher will send his own bucket down his 
own well for his own water." But sometimes even this 
sort of teacher iinds the water in his neighbor's well to 
be better than his own. Hence it is a great help even 
to the best teacher to know what is going on in the 
best schools of the country. He needs the stimulus 
of good school journals. He will get out into the insti- 
tutes and associations, and into the progressive school 
centers. He will hunt down real teachers at every 
opportunity, and study them closely. He will at least 
need to study his own methods closely, whatever atten- 
tion he chooses to give to the methods of others. 

Few teachers of native aptitude are apt to imitate 
slavishly. Those who cannot originate can hardly be 
hurt by imitation of good models. '' It is better to 
adapt than to adopt," but we adapt usually after a 
thoughtful attempt to adopt. David could not fight in 
Saul's armor, but he tried it on, before fixing upon his own 
method of warfare. '* History itself is merely a record 
of the initiatives that have been most imitated." Imi- 
tation is one of the results of suggestion, and sugges- 
tion plays a large part in the work of the most original 
genius. In any event any method of instruction is a 
failure which does not tend to induce in the students 
earnest and orderly self-instruction, and- to bring them 
into habits of righteous self-control. 

It is well to add that education is a vital, not a me- 
chanical, process ; a development, not a manufacture. 
'' It is thought kindling itself at a fire of living thought, 
by mysterious contact of spirit with spirit," said Carlyle. 
The teacher's success is resident at last not in method, 



36 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

but in personality, and personality is the most mysteri- 
ous thing in the universe, except God himself. There is 
always something in real teaching that defies all analy- 
sis as it defies all communication. The finest thing in 
good teaching, like the finest thing in good manners, 
may possibly be learned, but it cannot be taught. Of 
the true teacher we say, "Virtue has gone out of him," 
but just how we cannot tell. 

And finally, native aptitude for teaching needs to be 
enriched and developed by a thoughtful, practical ex- 
perience. After all the training he can receive at the 
hands of others, there is still left the most valuable 
training of all — the training he must give himself. 
'' The best way to comprehend is to do. What we learn 
the most thoroughly is what we learn to some extent by 
ourselves," said Immanuel Kant. Doing is a final con- 
dition of knowing. '' All is but Hp-wisdom that lacks 
experience." The teacher must stir judgment into every 
experience of his schoolroom ; must get a wholesome 
and lasting lesson out of every mistake ; must be his own 
severest critic. " With what do you mix your paints .'' " 
a young man once asked Mr. Opie the artist. *' With 
brains, sir," was the significant answer. 

No one believes that Normal schools send out teach- 
ers perfectly outfitted for teaching. The best they can 
do is to prepare teachers to make the most and the best 
out of their daily experiences with the least peril to 
childhood. If a teacher can be profoundly aroused 
about the vital concerns of his caUing, can be set going 
in the right direction, whether in a Normal school or out 
of it, and can keep himself under vigorous headway, 
then his own room and schoolroom may become the best 
Normal school for him. 



FITNESS TO TEACH 37 

In any event he ought to be able to say at the last : 
" I have made as much out of myself as the stuff is 
capable of, and no man could demand more." It would 
be well for the teacher, as he takes himself in hand for 
better or for worse, to be inspired by Plato's ideal of the 
cultured man : *' A lover, not of a part of wisdom, but of 
the whole ; who has a taste for every sort of knowledge ; 
who is curious to learn and is never satisfied ; who has 
magnificence of mind, and is a spectator of all time and 
all existence ; who is harmoniously constituted ; of a well- 
proportioned and gracious mind ; whose nature moves 
spontaneously toward the true significance of everything ; 
who has a good memory and is quick to learn, noble, gra- 
cious, the friend of truth, justice, courage, temperance." 



TOPICAL OUTLINE 

I. Nature and nurture. 

1. The teacher must be natively fit. 

2. Being so, he must still be cultivated. 

1 1 . Indications of native fitness. 

1. Insight. 

a. What it is and its value. 

2. Sense. 

a. What it is. 

b. Evidences of a lack of it. 

c. Evidences of it. 

3. Sympathy. 

a. What it is. 

b. Its value. 

c. Caution. 

4. Conscience. 

a. What it is. 

b. Indications of it. 

c. Its value. 

d. Snares. 



38 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 



5. Courage. 


a. 


What it is. 


b. 


Cowardice. 


c. 


Courage and rashness. 


III. Necessary acquirements. 


I. Academic scholarship. 


a. 


The very least any teacher ought to know, 


b. 


The obligations of scholarship. 


c. 


Extended scholarship. 


d. 


The secret of study. 


e. 


The nature of culture. 


/. 


The penalties of poor scholarship. 


g- 


Self-education. 


h. 


Resting and rusting. 


i. 


What is a scholar ? 


2. Psychology. 


a. 


What it is. 


b. 


Its uses to the teacher. 


c. 


Appeal to conscience. 


d. 


How it is to be studied. 


e. 


Psychology and professional growth. 


3. Pedagogy. 


a. 


What it is. 


b. 


Its uses. 


c. 


Its greatest use. 


4. Methodology. 


a. 


What it is. 


b. 


How it helps the teacher. 


c. 


Originality. 


d 


Imitation. 


e. 


The limitations of method. 


/• 


The secret of success. 


g- 


The nature of education. 


5. Thoughtful experience. 


a 


. Importance. 


b. 


Doing a condition of knowing. 


c. 


Brains, sir. 


d 


. The limitations of normal schools. 


e. 


, Plato's ideal of culture. 



FITNESS TO TEACH 



39 



READINGS 

From Educational Mosaics. Arranged according to topical outline 

I. The Teacher of the Future, p. 212. 
II. 2. Wanted: Well-balanced Mmds, p. 168. 
Cultivated Manners, p. 87. 
3. An Element of Power, p. 216. 
Indigestible Knowledge, p. 39. 
III. Trained Teachers, p. 133. 

Enriching the Mind, p. 199. 
I. Inspiration better than Instruction, p. 18. 
I. b. The Teacher a Student, p. 104. 

Intellectual Living, p. 122. 
I. c. How I was Educated, p. 49. 
Diligence, Carlyle, p. 59. 
Books, Channing, p. 63. 
Subsidizing All Sources, p. 220. 

1. g. Self-educated Men, pp. 115, 187. 

2. The Study of Psychology, p. 103. 
Oral Instruction, p. 73. 

Natural Order of Development, p. 225. 
The Man, not the Mind, p. 135. 

3. The Value of Educational History, p. 191. 

4. f. The Socratic Method, p. 243. 

5. Theory and Practice, p. 57. 
Man^s Three Teachers, p. 68. 
Experience and Observation, p. 69. 

ADDITIONAL READINGS 

The Ideal Schoolmaster. Morgan's Studies in Pedagogy, Chap. 
XVIII. 

Personality in the Teacher. Putnam's Pedagogics, Chap. XII. 

Character of the Teacher. Howland's Practical Hints for Teachers, 
Chap. II. 

Importance of Method. Compayre's Psychology applied to Educa- 
tion, pp. 92-3. 



CHAPTER III 

RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHER 

"A child's nature runs either to weeds or to herbs ; therefore we 
must seasonably water the one and destroy the other.'' — Bacon. 

SECTION I. A NEGLECTED PEAR TREE 

Some years ago, while residing in the northeastern part 
of Massachusetts, I was the owner of a small garden. 
1 had taken much pains to improve the condition and 
appearance of the place. A woodbine had been care- 
fully trained upon the front of the little homestead ; a 
fragrant honeysuckle, supported by a trellis, adorned 
the doorway ; a moss rose, a flowering almond, and the 
lily of the valley, mingled their fragrance in the breath 
of morn, — and never, in my estimation at least, did the 
sun shine upon a lovelier, happier spot. The morning 
hour was spent in '' dressing and keeping " the garden. 
Its vines were daily watched and carefully trained ; its 
borders were free from weeds, and the plants expanded 
their leaves and opened their buds as if smiling at the 
approach of the morning sun. There were fruit trees, 
too, which had been brought from afar, and so carefully 
nurtured, that they were covered with blossoms, filling 
the air with their fragrance and awakening the fondest 
hopes of an abundant harvest. 

In one corner of this miniature paradise there was 
a hop trellis ; and, in the midst of a bed of tansy hard 

40 



RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHER 41 

by, stood a small, knotty, crooked pear tree. It had 
stood there I know not how long. It was very dimin- 
utive in size; but like those cedars which one notices 
high up the mountain, just on the boundary between 
vegetation and eternal frost, it had every mark of the 
decrepitude of age. 

Why should this tree stand here so unsightly and 
unfruitful t Why had it escaped notice so long } Its 
bark had become bound and cracked ; its leaves were 
small and curled ; and those, small as they were, were 
ready to be devoured by a host of caterpillars, whose 
pampered bodies were already grown to the length of 
an inch. The tendrils of the hop vine had crept about 
its thorny limbs and were weighing down its growth, 
while the tansy at its roots drank up the refreshing dew 
and shut out the genial ray. It zvas a neglected ti^ee I 

"Why may not this tree be pruned.-^" No sooner 
said, than the small saw was taken from its place and 
the work was commenced. Comme?iced? It was hard 
to determine where to commence. Its knotty branches 
had grown thick and crooked, and there was scarcely 
space to get the saw between them. They all seemed 
to deserve amputation, but then the tree would have no 
top. This and that limb were lopped off as the case 
seemed to demand. The task was neither easy nor 
pleasant. Sometimes a violent stroke would bring 
down upon my own head a shower of the caterpillars; 
again the long-cherished garden coat — threadbare and 
faded as it was — got caught, and before it could be 
disengaged, what an unsightly rent had been made! 
With pain I toiled on, for one of the unlucky thorns 
had pierced my thumb; and I might have been said 
to be working on the spur of the occasion ! 



42 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

The hop vine, however, was removed from its boughs, 
the tansy and weeds from its roots, the scales and moss 
from its bark. The thorns were carefully pared from 
its limbs, and the caterpillars were all shaken from its 
leaves. The mold was loosened and enriched, and the 
sun shone that day upon a long neglected, but now a 
promising tree. 

The time for grafting was not yet passed. One re- 
putedly skilled in that art was called to put the new 
scion upon the old stock. The work was readily under- 
taken and speedily accomplished, and the assurance was 
given that the Bartlett Pear — that prince among 
the fruits of New England — would one day be gathered 
from my neglected ti^ee. 

With what interest I watched the buds of the scion, 
morning after morning, as the month grew warmer, 
and vegetation all around was "bursting into birth!" 
With what delight did I greet the first opening of 
those buds, and how did I rejoice as the young shoots 
put forth and grew into a fresh green top ! With 
tender solicitude I cherished this tree for two long 
summers; and on the opening of the third, my heart 
was gladdened with the sight of its first fruit blossoms. 
With care were the weeds excluded, the caterpillars 
exterminated, the hop vine clipped, the bark rubbed and 
washed, the earth manured and watered. The time of 
fruit arrived. The Bartlett pear was offered in our 
market, — but my pears were not yet ripe ! With 
anxious care they were watched till the frost bade 
the green leaves wither, and then they were carefully 
gathered and placed in the sunbeams within doors. 
They at length turned yellow, and looked fair to the 
sight and tempting to the taste ; and a few friends who 



RESPONSIBILiTY OF THE TEACHER 43 

had known their history were invited to partake of 
them. They were brought forward, carefully arranged 
in the best dish the humble domicile afforded, and for- 
mally introduced as the first fruits of the " neglected 
treey What was my chagrin and mortification, after 
all my pains and solicitude, after all my hopes and fond 
anticipations, to find they were miserable, tasteless — 
choke pears ! 

This pear tree has put me upon thinking. It has 
suggested that there is such a thing as a moi'al garden, 
in which there may be fair flowers indeed, but also some 
neglected trees. The plants in this garden may suffer 
very much from neglect, — from neglect of the gardener. 
It is deplorable to see how many crooked, unseemly 
branches shoot forth from some of these young trees, 
which early might have been trained to grow straight 
and smooth by the hand of cultivation. Many a youth, 
running on in his own way, indulging in deception and 
profanity, yielding to temptation and overborne by evil 
influences, polluting by his example, and wounding the 
hearts of his best friends as they yearn over him for 
good, has reminded me of my neglected tree, its cater- 
pillars, its roughened bark, its hop-vine, its tansy bed, 
its cruel, piercing thorns. And when I have seen such 
a youth brought under the influence of the educator, 
and have witnessed the progress he has made and the 
intellectual promise he has given I have also thought 
of my neglected tree. When, too, I have followed him 
to the years of maturity, and have found, as I have too 
often found, that he brings not forth *'the peaceable 
fruits of righteousness," but that he disappoints all the 
fondly cherished hopes of his friends — perhaps of his 
own teachers — -because the best principles were not 



44 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

engrafted upon him, I again think of my neglected U'ee^ 
and of the unskillful, perhaps dishonest gardener, who 
acted as its responsible educator. 

From the above as a text, several inferences might 
be drawn, i. Education is necessary to develop the 
human soul. 2. Education should begin early. We 
have too many neglected trees. 3. It should be right 
education. 4. The educator should be a safe and hon- 
est man ; else the education may be all wrong, — may 
be worse even than the neglect. 

But especially we may infer that 

SECTION II. THE TEACHER IS RESPONSIBLE 

It is the object of the following remarks feebly to 
illustrate the extent of the teacher's responsibility. It 
must all along be borne in mind that he is not alone 
responsible for the results of education. ; The parent 
has an overwhelming responsibility, which he can never 
part with or transfer to another while he holds the 
relation of parent. 

But the teacher is responsible in a very high degree. 
An important interest is committed to his charge when- 
ever a human being is placed under his guidance.^ By 
taking the position of the teacher, all the responsibility 
of the relation is voluntarily assumed ; and he is fear- 
fully responsible not only for what he does, but also for 
what he neglects to do. And it is a responsibility from 
which he cannot escape. Even though he may have 
thoughtlessly entered upon the relation of teacher, with- 
out a single glance at its obligations ; or though, when 
reminded of them, he may laugh at the thought, and 
disclaim all idea of being thus seriously held to a fear- 
ful account, — yet still the responsibility is on him. Just 



RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHER 45 

as true as it is a great thing to guide the mind aright, — 
just as true as it is a deplorable, nay, fatal thing to 
lead it astray, — so true is it that he who attempts the 
work, whether ignorant or skillful, whether thoughtless 
or serious, incurs all the responsibility of success or 
failure, — a responsibility he can never shake off as long 
as the human soul is immortal, and men are accountable 
for such consequences of their acts as are capable of 
being foreseen. 
'T I. The teacher is in a degree responsible for the bodily 
HEALTH of the child. It is well established that the 
foundation of many serious diseases is laid in the school- 
room. These diseases come sometimes from a neglect 
of exercise; sometimes from too long confinement in 
one position, or upon one study ; sometimes from over- 
excitement and overstudy ; sometimes from breathing 
bad air ; sometimes from being kept too warm or 
too cold. Now the teacher should be an inteUigent 
physiologist; and from a knowledge of what the human 
system can bear and what it cannot, he is bound to 
be ever watchful to guard against all those abuses 
from which our children so often suffer. Especially 
should he be tremblingly alive to avert that excitability 
of the nervous system, the overaction of which is so 
fatal to future happiness of the individual. And should 
he, by appealing to the most exciting motives, encourage 
the delicate child to press on to grasp those subjects 
which are too great for its comprehension, and allow 
it to neglect exercise in the open air in order to task 
its feverish brain in the crowded and badly ventilated 
schoolroom ; and then, in a few days, be called to look 
upon the languishing sufferer upon a bed of exhaustion 
and pain, — perhaps a bed of premature death, — could 



46 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

he say, " I am not responsible " ? Parents and teachers 
often err in this. They are so eager to develop a pre- 
cocious intellect, that they crush the casket in order to 
gratify a prurient desire to astonish the world with the 
brilliancy of the gem. Each is responsible for his share 
of this sin ; and the teacher especially, because by his 
education he should know better. 
\ II. The teacJier is mainly respojisible for the intel- 
lectual GROWTH of the child. This may be referred 
chiefly to the following heads : — 

I. The Order of Study. — There is a natural order 
in the education of the child. The teacher should know 
this. If he presents the subjects out of this order, he 
is responsible for the injury. In general the elements 
should be taught first. Those simple branches which 
the child first comprehends should first be presented. 
Reading, of course, must be one of the first ; though I 
think the day is not distant when an enlightened com- 
munity will not condemn the teacher, if, while teaching 
reading, he should call the child's attention by oral 
instructions to such objects about him as he can com- 
prehend, even though in doing this he should somewhat 
prolong the time of learning to read. It is indeed of 
little consequence that the child should read words 
simply ; and that teacher may be viewed as pursuing 
the order of nature, who so endeavors to develop the 
powers of observation and comparison, that words when 
learned shall be the vehicles of ideas. 
A Next to Reading and its inseparable companions — 
Spelling ?ind Defining — I am inclined to recommend the 
study of Mental Arithmetic. The idea of number is 
one of the earliest in the mind of the child. He can be 
early taught to count, and quite early to perform these 



RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHER 47 

operations which we call adding, subtracting, multiply- 
ing, and dividing. This study at first needs no book. 
The teacher should be thoroughly versed in '' Colburn's 
Intellectual Arithmetic," or its equivalent, and he can 
find enough to interest the child. When the scholar 
has learned to read, and has attained the age of six or 
seven, he may be allowed a book in preparmg Ids lesson, 
but never during the recitation. Those who have not 
tried this kind of mental discipline will be astonished 
at the facility which the child acquires for performing 
operations that often puzzle the adult. Nor is it an 
unimportant acquisition. None can tell its value but 
those who have experienced the advantage it gives them 
in future school exercises and in business, over those 
who have never had such training. 
A- Geography may come next to Mental Arithmetic. 
The child should have an idea of the relations of size, 
form, and space, as well as number, before commencing 
Geography. These, however, he acquires naturally at 
an early age; and very thoroughly, if the teacher has 
taken a little pains to aid him on these points in the 
earliest stages of his progress. A map is a picture, and 
hence a child welcomes it. If it can be a map of some 
familiar object, as of his schoolroom, of the school dis- 
trict, of his father's orchard or farm, it becomes an object 
of great interest. A map of his town is very desirable ; 
also of his county and of his own state. Further detail 
will be deferred here, as it is only intended in this place 
to hint at the order of taking up the subjects. 
^ History should go hand in hand with Geography. 
Perhaps no greater mistake is made than that of 
deferring History till one of the last things in the 
child's course. 



48 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

Writing may be early commenced with the pencil 
upon the slate, because it is a very useful exercise to 
the child in prosecuting many of his other studies. 
But writing with a pen may well be deferred till the 
child is ten years of age, when the muscles shall have 
acquired sufficient strength to grasp and guide it. 
--i- Written Arithmetic may succeed the mental ; indeed, 
it may be practiced along with it. 

Composition — perhaps by another name, as Descrip- 
tion — should be early commenced and very frequently 
practiced. The child can be early interested in this, 
and he probably in this way acquires a better knowl- 
edge of practical grammar than in any other. 

Grammar, in my opinion, as a study, should be one 
of the last of the common-school branches to be taken 
up. It requires more maturity of mind to understand 
its relations and dependencies than any other ; and that 
which is taught of grammar without such an under- 
standing, is a mere smattering of technical terms, by 
which the pupil is injured rather than improved. It 
may be said that unless scholars commence this branch 
early, they never will have the opportunity to learn it. 
Then let it go unlearned ; for as far as I have seen 
the world, I am satisfied that this early and superficial 
teaching of a difficult subject is not only useless but 
positively injurious. How many there are who study 
grammar for years, and then are obliged to confess in 
after life, because " their speech bewrayeth" them, that 
they never understood it ! How many, by the too early 
study of an intricate branch, make themselves tJiink 
they understand it, and thus prevent the hope of any 
further advancement at the proper age ! Grammar, 
theny should not be studied too early. 



RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHER 



49 



Of the manner of teaching all these branches, I shall 
have more to say m due time. At present I have only 
noticed the order in which they should be taken up. 
This is a question of much consequence to the child, 
and the teacher is generally responsible for it. He 
should therefore carefully consider this matter, that 
he may be able to decide aright. 

2. The Manner of Study. — It is of quite as much 
importance hozv we study, as what we study. Indeed, I 
have thought that much of the difference among men 
could be traced to their different habits of study, formed 
in youth. A large portion of our scholars study for the 
sake of preparing to recite the lesson. They seem to 
have no idea of any object beyond recitation. The con- 
sequence is, they study mechanically. They endeavor 
to remember phraseology, rather than principles ; they 
study the book, not the subject. Let any one enter our 
schools and see the scholars engaged in preparing their 
lessons. Scarcely one will be seen, who is not repeating 
over and over again the words of the text, as if there 
was a saving charm in repetition. Observe the same 
scholars at recitation, and it is a struggle of the memory 
to recall the forms of zvords. The vacant countenance 
too often indicates that they are words without meaning. 
This difficulty is very much increased if the teacher is 
confined to the text-book during recitation ; and par- 
ticularly if he relies mainly upon the printed questions 
so often found at the bottom of the page. 

The scholar should be encouraged to study the sub- 
ject ; and his book should be held merely as the instru- 
ment. " Books are but helps," is a good motto for 
every student. The teacher should often tell how the 
lesson should be learned. His precept in this matter 

B.-P. THE. & PR. TEACHING — 4 



50 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

will often be of use. Some scholars will learn a lesson 
in one tenth of the time required by others. Human 
life is too short to have any of it employed to disad- 
vantage. The teacher, then, should inculcate such 
habits of study as are valuable ; and he should be par- 
ticularly careful to break up, in the recitations, those 
habits which are so grossly mechanical. A child may 
almost be said to be educated, who has learned to study 
aright; while one may have acquired in the mechanical 
way a great amount of knowledge, and yet have no 
profitable mental discipline. 

For this difference in children, as well as in men, the 
teacher is more responsible than any other person. Let 
him carefully consider this matter. 

3. Collateral Study. — Books, to be sure, are to 
be studied, and studied chiefly, in most of our schools. 
But there is much for the teacher to do toward the 
growth of the mind which is not to be found in the 
schoolbooks ; and it is the practical recognition of this 
fact which constitutes the great difference in teachers. 
Truth, in whatever department, is open to the faithful 
teacher. And there is such a thing, even in the pres- 
ent generation, as ''opening the eyes of the blind" to 
discover things new and old, in nature, in the arts, in 
history, in the relation of things. Without diminishing, 
in the least, the progress of the young in study, their 
powers of observation may be cultivated, their percep- 
tion quickened, their relish for the acquisition of knowl- 
edge indefinitely increased, by the instrumentality of 
the teacher. This must of course be done adroitly. 
There is such a thing as excessively cramming the 
mind of a child, till he loathes everything in the way 
of acquisition. There is such a thing, too, as exciting 



RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHER 



51 



an all-pervading interest in a group of children, so that 
the scholar shall welcome the return of school hours, 
and, by his cheerful step and animated eye as he seeks 
the schoolhouse, disclaim as false when applied to him 
the language of the poet who described the schoolboy 
of his darker day, — 

"with his satchel, 

And shining morning face, creeping, like snail, 

Unwillingly to school.^'' 

The teacher, who is responsible for such a result, 
should take care to store his own mind with the material, 
and exercise the ingenuity to do that which is of so 
much consequence to the scholar. The chapter on 
"Waking up Mind" will give some further hints to 
the young teacher. 

Ill, The teacher is m a degree responsible for the 

MORAL TRAINING of the child. 

I say in a degree, because it is confessed that in 
this matter very much likewise depends upon parental 
influence. 

This education of the heart is confessedly too much 
neglected in all our schools. It has often been re- 
marked that ''knowledge is power," and as truly that 
" knowledge without principle to regulate it may make 
a man a powerful villain." It is all-important that our 
youth should early receive such moral training as shall 
make it safe to give them knowledge. Very much of 
this work must devolve upon the teacher; or rather, 
when he undertakes to teach he assumes the responsi- 
bility of doing or of neglecting this work. 

The precept of the teacher may do much toward 
teaching the child his duty to God, to himself, and to 
his fellow-beings. But it is not mainly by precept 



52 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

that this is to be done. Sermons and homihes are 
but Httle heeded in the schoolroom ; and unless the 
teacher has some other mode of reaching the feelings 
and the conscience, he may despair of being successful 
in moral training. 

The teacher should be well versed in human nature. 
He should know the power of conscience and the means 
of reaching it. He should himself have deep principle. 
His exa7nple in everything before his school should be 
pure, flowing out from the purity of his soul. He 
should ever manifest the tenderest regard to the law 
of right and of love. He should never violate his own 
sense of justice, nor outrage that of his pupils. Such 
a man teaches by his example. He is a " living epistle, 
known and read of all." He teaches, as he goes in and 
out before the school, as words can never teach. 

The moral feelings of children are capable of sys- 
tematic and successful cultivation. Our muscles ac- 
quire strength by use ; it is so with our intellectual and 
moral faculties. We educate the power of calculation 
by continued practice, so that the proficient adds the 
long column of figures almost with the rapidity of sight, 
and with infallible accuracy. So with the moral feel- 
ings. " The more frequently we use our conscience," 
says Dr. Wayland, '' in judging between actions, as 
right and wrong, the more easily shall we learn to judge 
correctly concerning them. He who, before every 
action, will deliberately ask himself, * Is this right or 
wrong .? ' will seldom mistake what is his duty. And 
children may do this as well as grown persons." Let 
the teacher appeal as often as may be to the pupil's 
conscience. In a thousand ways can this be done, and 
it is a duty the faithful teacher owes to his scholars. 



RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHER 53 

By such methods of cultivating the conscience as the 
judicious teacher may devise, and by his own pure ex- 
ample, what may he not accomplish ? If he loves the 
truth, and ever speaks the truth ; if he is ever frank 
and sincere ; if, in a word, he shows that he has a ten- 
der conscience in all things, and that he always refers 
to it for its approval in all his acts, — what an influence 
does he exert upon the impressible minds under his 
guidance ! How those children will observe his con- 
sistent course ; and, though they may not speak of it, 
how great will be its silent power upon the formation 
of their characters ! And in future years, when they 
ripen into maturity, how will they remember and bless 
the example they shall have found so safe and salutary ! 

Responsibility in this matter cannot be avoided. The 
teacher by his example does teach, for good or for evil, 
whether he will or not. Indifference will not excuse 
him ; for when most indifferent he is not less account- 
able. And if his example be pernicious, as too often 
even yet the example of the teacher is ; if he indulges 
in outbreaks of passion, or wanders in the mazes of de- 
ceitfulness ; if the blasphemous oath pollutes his tongue, 
or the obscene jest poisons his breath ; if he trifles with 
the feelings or the rights of others, and habitually vio- 
lates his own conscience, — what a blighting influence 
is his for all coming time ! 

With all the attachment which young pupils will cher- 
ish even toward a bad teacher, and with all the confi- 
dence they will repose in him, who can describe the 
mischief which he can accomplish in one short term } 
The school is no place for a man without principle ; I 
repeat, the school is no place for a man without 
PRINCIPLE. Let such a man seek a livelihood anywhere 



54 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

else ; or, failing to gain it by other means, let starvation 
seize the body and send the soul back to its Maker as it 
is, rather than he should incur the fearful guilt of poison- 
ing youthful minds and dragging them down to his own 
pitiable level. If there can be one sin greater than an- 
other, on which Heaven frowns with more awful dis- 
pleasure, it is that of leading the young into principles 
of error and the debasing practices of vice. 

" Oh, woe to those who trample on the mind, 
That deathless thing ! They know not what they do, 
Nor what they deal with. Man, perchance, may bind 
The flower his step hath bruised ; or light anew 
The torch he quenches ; or to music wind 
Again the lyre-string from his touch that flew; — 
But for the soul, oh, tremble and beware 
To lay rude hands upon God's mysteries there ! " 

Let then the teacher study well his motives when he 
enters this profession, and so let him meet his responsi- 
bility in this matter as to secure the approval of his 
own conscience and his God. 

IV. The teacher is to some extent responsible for the 

RELIGIOUS TRAINING of the yOlUlg. 

We live in a Christian land. It is our glory, if not 
our boast, that we have descended from an ancestry 
that feared God and reverenced His word. Very justly 
we attribute our superiority as a people over those who 
dwell in the darker portions of the world, to our purer 
faith derived from that precious fountain of truth — the 
Bible. Very justly, too, does the true patriot and phi- 
lanthropist rely upon our faith and practice as a Chris- 
tian people for the permanence of our free institutions 
and our unequaled social privileges. 

If we are so much indebted, then, to the Christian 



RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHER 55 

religion for what we are, and so much dependent upon 
its life-giving truths for what we may hope to be, — how 
important is it that all our youth should be nurtured 
under its influences ! 

When I say religious training, I do not mean secta- 
rianism. In our public schools, supported at the public 
expense, and in which the children of all denominations 
meet for instruction, I do not think that any man has 
a right to crowd his own peculiar notions of theology 
upon all, whether they are acceptable or not. Yet 
there is common ground which he can occupy and to 
which no reasonable man can object. He can teach 
a reverence for the Supreme Being, a reverence for 
His Holy Word, for the influences of His Spirit, for 
the character and teachings of the Savior, and for the 
momentous concerns of eternity. He can teach the 
evil of sin in the sight of God, and the awful conse- 
quences of it upon the individual. He can teach the 
duty of repentance and the privilege of forgiveness. 
He can teach our duty to worship God, to obey His 
laws, to seek the guidance of His Spirit and the salva- 
tion by His Son. He can illustrate the blessedness of 
the divine life, the beauty of holiness, and the joyful 
hope of heaven; — and to all this no reasonable man 
will be found to object, so long as it is done in a truly 
Christian spirit. 

If not in express words, most certainly his life and 
example should teach this. Man is a religious being. 
The religious principle should be early cultivated. It 
should be safely and carefully cultivated ; and, as this 
cultivation is too often entirely neglected by parents, 
unless it is attempted by the teacher, in many cases it 
will never be effected at all. 



56 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

Of course all those points which separate the com- 
munity into sects must be left to the family, the Sab- 
bath school, and the pulpit. The teacher is responsible 
for his honesty in this matter. While he has no right 
to lord it over the private conscience of any one, he is 
inexcusable, if, believing the great truths of the Bible, 
he puts them away as if they concerned him not. They 
should command his faith, and govern his conduct ; and 
their claims upon the young should not be disowned. 

At any rate the teacher should be careful that his 
teaching and his example do not prejudice the youthful 
mind against these truths. It is a hazardous thing for 
a man to be skeptical by himself, even when he locks 
his opinions up in the secrecy of his own bosom ; how 
great then is the responsibility of teaching the young 
to look lightly upon the only book that holds out to us 
the faith of immortality, and opens to us the hope of 
heaven ! Let the teacher well consider this matter, 
and take heed that his teaching shall never lead one 
child of earth away from his heavenly Father, or from 
the rest of the righteous in the home of the blest. 

In view of what has been said, the young candidate 
for the teacher's office, almost in despair of success, 
may exclaim, "Who is sufficient for these things.?" 
" Who can meet and sustain such responsibility } " My 
answer is, the true inquirer after duty will not go astray. 
He is insufficient for these things, who is self-confident, 
who has not yet learned his own weakness, who has 
never found out his own faults, and who rushes to 
this great work as the unheeding " horse rusheth into 
the battle," not knowing whither he goeth. Alas, how 
many there are who enter this profession without the 
exercise of a single thought of the responsibility of 



RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHER 5/ 

the position, or of any of the many great questions 
which must in their schools for the first time be pre- 
sented for their decision ! How many there are who 
never reflect upon the incalculable influence of their 
example before the young, and are scarcely conscious 
that their example is of any consequence whatso- 
ever ! 

Such, in the highest sense, will fail of success. How 
can they be expected to go right, where there is only 
one right way but a thousand wrong ? Let such per- 
sons pause and consider before they assume responsi- 
bilities which they can neither discharge nor evade. 
Let such ask with deep soHcitude, "Who is sufficient 
for these things "i " 

But to the young person really desirous of improve- 
ment; to him who has taken the first and important 
step toward knowledge by making the discovery that 
everything is not already known ; to him who sees 
beforehand that there are real difficulties in this pro- 
fession, and who is not too proud or self-conceited to 
feel the need of special preparation to meet them ; to 
him who has some idea of the power of example in 
the educator, and who desires most of all things that 
his character shall be so pure as to render his example 
safe ; to him who has discovered that there are some 
deep mysteries in human nature, and that they are 
only to be fathomed by careful study ; to him who 
really feels that a great thing is to be done, and who 
has the sincere desire to prepare himself to do it 
aright ; to him, in short, who has the true spirit of the 
teacher, — I may say, there is nothing to fear. An 
honest mind, with the requisite industry, is sufficient 
for these things. 



58 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 
SECTION III. THE AUBURN STATE PRISON 

During my visit at Auburn in the autumn of 1845, 
I was invited by a friend to visit the prison, in which 
at that time were confined between six and seven hun- 
dred convicts. I was first taken through the various 
workshops, where the utmost neatness and order pre- 
vailed. As I passed along, my eye rested upon one 
after another of the convicts, I confess, with a feeling 
of surprise. There were many good-looking men. If, 
instead of their party-colored dress, they could have 
been clothed in the citizen's garb, I should have thought 
them as good in appearance as laboring men in gen- 
eral. And when, to their good appearance, was added 
their attention to their work, their ingenuity, and the 
neatness of their workrooms, my own mind began to 
press the inquiry, WJiy are these men here ? It was the 
afternoon of Saturday. Many of them had completed 
their allotted work for the week, and with happy faces 
were performing the customary ablutions preparatory to 
the Sabbath. Passing on, we came to the library, — a 
collection of suitable books for the convicts, which are 
given out as a reward for diligence to those who have 
seasonably and faithfully performed their labor. Here 
were many who had come to take their books. Their 
faces beamed with delight as they each bore away the 
desired volume, just as I had seen the faces of the 
happy and the free do before. Why are these men 
here ? was again pressed upon me ; — Why are these 
men Jiere ? 

At this time the famous Wyatt, since executed upon 
the gallows for his crime, was in solitary confinement, 
awaiting his trial for the murder of Gordon, a fellow- 



RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHER 59 

prisoner. I was permitted to enter his room. Chained 
to the floor, he was reclining upon his mattress in the 
middle of his apartment. As I approached him, his 
large black eye met mine. He was a handsome man. 
His head was well developed, his long black hair hung 
upon his neck, and his eye was one of the most intelli- 
gent I ever beheld. Had I seen him in the Senate 
among great men, — had I seen him in a school of 
philosophers, or a brotherhood of poets, I should prob- 
ably have selected him as the most remarkable man 
among them all, without suspecting his distinction to 
be a distinction of villainy. Why is that man here.? 
thought I, as I turned away to leave him to his dread- 
ful solitude. 

The morrow was the Sabbath. I could not repress 
my desire to see the convicts brought together for wor- 
ship. At the hour of nine I entered their chapel and 
found them all seated in silence. I was able to see 
most of the faces of this interesting congregation. It 
was by no means the worst-looking congregation I had 
ever seen. There were evidently bad men there; but 
what congregation of free men does not present some 
such } 

They awaited in silence the commencement of the 
service. When the morning hymn was read, they 
joined in the song, the chorister being a colored man 
of their own number. They sang as other congrega- 
tions sing, and my voice joined with theirs. The 
Scripture was read. They gave a respectful attention. 
The prayer was begun. Some bowed in apparent rever- 
ence at the commencement. Others sat erect, and two 
or three of these appeared to be the hardened sons of 
crime. The chaplain's voice was of a deep, perhaps I 



60 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

should say a fatherly, tone, and he seemed to have the 
father's spirit. He prayed for these 'Svayward ones," 
who were deprived of their Uberty for their offenses, 
but whom God would welcome to his throne of mercy. 
He prayed for their homes, and for their friends who 
this day would send their thoughts hither in remem- 
brance of those in bonds. He alluded to the scenes of 
their childhood, the solicitude of their early friends, and 
the affection of their parents. When the words home, 
friejid, childhood, were heard, several of those sturdy 
sons of crime and wretchedness instinctively bowed 
their heads and concealed their faces in their hands; 
and as a fathei^'s blessing and a mother's love were 
alluded to, more than one of these outcasts from society 
were observed to dash the scalding tear from the eye. 
These men feel like other men, — zvhy are they here ? 
was again the thought which forced itself upon my 
mind ; and while the chaplain proceeded to his sermon, 
in the midst of the silence that pervaded the room my 
mind ran back to their educators. Once these men 
were children like others. They had feelings like other 
children, affection, reverence, teachableness, conscience, 
— why are they here.? Some, very likely, on account 
of their extraordinary perversity ; but most because 
they had a wrong education. More than half, undoubt- 
edly, have violated the laws of their country, not from 
extraordinary viciousness but from the weakness of their 
moral principle. Tempted just hke other and better 
men, they fell, because in early childhood no one had 
cultivated and strengthened the conscience God had 
given them. I am not disposed to excuse the vices 
of men, nor to screen them from merited punishment; 
neither do I worship a "painted morality " based solely 



RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHER 6 1 

upon education, thus leaving nothing for the religion 
of the Bible to accompHsh by purifying the heart, that 
fountain of wickedness ; yet how many of these men 
might have been saved to society ; how many of them 
have powers which under different training might have 
adorned and blessed their race; how many of them may 
date their fall to the evil influence and poisonous ex- 
ample of some guide of their childhood, some recreant 
teacher of their early days, — God only knows ! But 
what a responsibility still rests upon the head of any 
such teacher, if he did not know or did not try to know 
the avenue to their hearts; if he did not feel or try to 
feel the worth of moral principle to these very fallen 
ones! And what would be his feelings if he could look 
back through the distant days of the past and count up 
exactly the measure of his own faithfulness and of his 
own neglect ? This the all-seeing eye alone can do, — 
this He who looketh upon the heart ever does ! 

Teachers, go forth, then, conscious of your responsi- 
bility to your pupils, conscious of your accountability 
to God, go forth and teach this people ; and endeavor 
so to teach, that when you meet your pupils, not in the 
walks of life merely, not perhaps in the Auburn Prison, 
not indeed upon the shores of time, but at the final 
Judgment, where you must meet them all, you may be 
able to give a good account of the influence which you 
have exerted over mind. As it may then be forever too 
late to correct your errors and efface any injury done, 
study now to act the part of wisdom and the part of love. 

Study the human heart by studying the workings of 
your own ; seek carefully the avenues to the affections ; 
study those higher motives which elevate and ennoble 
the soul; cultivate that purity which shalJ allure the 



62 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

wayward, by bright example, from the paths of error ; 
imbue your own souls with the love of teaching and the 
greatness of your work ; rely not alone upon yourselves, 
as if by your own wisdom and might you could do this 
great thing ; but seek that direction which our heavenly 
Father never withholds from the honest inquirer after 
his guidance, — and though the teacher's work is, and 
ever must be, attended with overwhelming responsibihty, 

YOU WILL BE SUFFICIENT FOR THESE THINGS. 
TOPICAL QUIZ 

I. The Neglected Pear Tree. 

(i) How is neglected youth like the neglected 
pear tree ? 

(2) State the inferences to be drawn. 
II. The Responsibility of the Teacher. 

(3) Who shares responsibihty with the teacher? 

(4) Indicate the great responsibility of the teacher. 

(See also pp. 22-24, 32-33 ) 

(5) State four matters in which the teacher is 

partly or mainly responsible. 

A. The teacher is partly responsible for the bodily health of 

the child. 

(6) State the ways in which the teacher can 

damage a pupiPs bodily health. 

(7) What subject does the teacher need to know? 

B. The teacher is mainly responsible for the intellectual growth 

of the pupil. 

(8) Why does this responsibility fall on the 

teacher? 

(9) What three things does the teacher determine 

about the child's studies? 
I. What the child studies. 

(10) In what order should subjects be presented? 
Why? 

Read : "■ Laws of Development," Putnam's 
Manual of Pedagogics, p. 86. '' Selection 



RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHER 63 

and Arrangement of Studies," Ide?;/, 
p. 269. 

(11) Schedule the order of studies suggested by 

Mr. Page. 

(12) What is reading? What is an essential part 

of reading? (See also pp. 80-81.) 

(13) What is a map ? When are maps being studied 

properly? (See also p. 82.) 

(14) State the objections to studying technical 

grammar too early. 

(15) What are the values of grammar study ? 

2. How the child studies. 

(16) State the importance of learning how to study. 

(17) Some bad habits of study ? Remedies? 

(18) Some good habits of study ? 

3. The child'' s interest in collateral studies. 

(19) What is meant by collateral studies ? 

(20) Why are they important ? 

Read : Arnold's Waymarks for Teachers, 
pp. 9-17. 

(21) When and how are the lessons to be given ? 

(See Page's "Waking Up Mind," Sec. IV. 
p. 120.) 

C. The teacher is in a degree responsible for the moral train- 

ing of the child. 

(22) What is meant by moral training ? 

Read : Putnam's Manual of Pedagogics, 
pp. 80-84; Idem., pp. 98-102; Idem, 
pp. 222-252. 

(23) The effect of knowledge without moral prin- 

ciple ? 
Read : HufFord's Ruskin, p. 437. 

(24) The effect of moral precepts ? 

(25) The effects of example ? (See also p. 53.) 

(26) What is conscience ? (Putnam, p. 80.) 

(27) Plow can the conscience be developed ? (See 

also p. 196.) 

D. The teacher is to some extent responsible for the religious 

training of the child. 



64 THEORY AND PRACTICE, OF TEACHING 

(28) What religious lessons can be taught in any 

school ? How ? 

(29) Where must the burden, of religious teaching 

rest mainly ? 

(30) What must be avoided ? 

(31) Dangers of skepticism in the teacher. 

(32) Dangers of indifference about religious mat- 

ters. 

(33) " Who is sufficient for these things ? " 

III. The Auburn State Priso7i. 

(34) What Page saw there. 

(35) "Why are these men here ?" 

(36) The teacher's responsibility. 

WRITTEN EXERCISES 

1. Some Lessons about education, learned from plants. 

Laurie's Comenius. 

2. The natural order in which a child's mind develops. 

Putnam's Manual of Pedagogics, p. 86. 

3. Traits in children indicative of future criminality. 

McDonald's Abnormal Man. Dept. of Education, 
Washington, D.C, 

PAGE'S ORDER OF STUDIES 

(WITH BRIEF notes) 

I. Reading. 

To be begun at once when the beginner enters 

school. 
By the word and sentence method. (See Ar- 
nold's Way marks for Teachers, Chap. IIL) 
The words learned must be vehicles of ideas. 
Frequently call for the thought in the pupil's 
own words. This throughout the course. 
(l) The elements. 

That is, the forms, sounds, and names of 
the letters. 



RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHER 65 

These to be learned gradually after the pupil has 
begun to read. (See Branson's Methods in Read- 
ing and Spelling.) 

(2) Writing. 

In connection with reading from the first. 
Later, in seat-work exercises in all the school sub- 
jects. 

(3) Spelling. 

Mainly in connection with reading at first. 

Later, in direct connection with all the school studies. 

(4) Definition. 

That is, oral or written sentences illustrating the 

meaning and use of all unfamiliar words. 
First, with the Reader : later, in all lessons. 

(5) Observation lessons (collateral studies). 

In connection with the Reading lessons — whenever 

occasions arise. 
Also in such other ways as Page suggests in his 

chapter on ''Waking Up Mind." (See Arnold's 

Waymarks for Teachers, Chap. I.) 

(6) Language Lessons (Composition). 

In such ways as are indicated above. (See Arnold's 
Waymarks for Teachers, Chap. II.) 
Mental Aritlwietic. 

Taught beginners, from objects, orally, without books. 
Colburn's Mental Arithmetic, recommended for the teacher's 
use. (See Branson's Methods in Arithmetic, Chaps. II., 
III.) 
Written Arithmetic. 
Accompanied by mental arithmetic exercises at every step 
of the way. 
Geography. 

Conversation lessons with primary pupils. 

About topics in "Home Geography." (See Georgia 

Teachers' Manual, pp. 88-98.) 
Geography book begun with Third or Fourth Reader classes. 
History. 

Begun early with biographical stories and incidents. Good 
material for language lessons. 

B.-P. THE. & PR. TEACHING — 5 



66 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

In connection with geography all the time. Locate every- 
thing. 
6. Technical G?'ammar. 

Begun when reasonable effort will enable the child to under- 
stand it. 

Useful as a discipHne in thinking and in interpreting thought. 

Also useful in preventing or correcting bad habits of speech. 

"That the leading object of the study of English Grammar 
is to teach the correct use of the English Language is, in 
my opinion, an error, and one which is gradually becoming 
removed. One must be a reflective user of language to 
amend even here and there a point by grammatical rea- 
sons. No one ever changed from a bad speaker to a good 
one by applying rules of grammar to what he said." 

— Dr. Whitney. 



CHAPTER IV 

PERSONAL HABITS OF THE TEACHER 

" I would have him first of all to be well bred and well tempered." 
— John Locke. 

" Your manners are always under examination, and by commit- 
tees little suspected ; but they are awarding or denying you very 
high prizes when you least think of it." — Emerson. 

The importance of correct habits to any individual 
cannot be overrated. The influence of the teacher is so 
great upon the children under his care, either for good 
or evil, that it is of the utmost importance to them as 
well as to himself that his habits should be unexception- 
able. It is the teacher's sphere to improve the commu- 
nity in which he moves, not only in learning, but in 
morals and manners; in everything that is "lovely and 
of good report." This he may do partly by precept, — 
but very much by example. He teaches, wherevej^ he is. 
His manners, his appearance, his character, are all the 
subject of observation, and to a great extent of imitation, 
by the young in his district. He is observed not only in 
the school, but in the family, in the social gathering, and 
in the religious meeting. How desirable then that he 
should be a model in all things ! 

Man has been said to be a ''bundle of habits"; and 
it has been as pithily remarked — ''Happy is the man 
whose habits are his friends." It were well if all per- 
sons, before they become teachers, would attend care- 

67 



6S THEORY AND PRACITCE OF TEACHING 

fully to the formation of their personal habits. This, 
unhappily, is not always done, — and therefore I shall 
make no apology for introducing in this place some very 
plain remarks on what I deem the essentials among the 
habits of the teacher. 

I . Neatness. — This implies cleanliness of the person. 
If some who assume to teach were not proverbial for 
their slovenliness, I would not dwell on this point. On 
this point, however, I must be allowed great plainness 
of speech, even at the expense of incurring the charge 
of excessive nicety ; for it is by attending to a few little 
things that one becomes a strictly neat person. The 
morning ablution, then, should never be omitted, and the 
comb for the hair and brush for the clothes should always 
be called into requisition before the teacher presents him- 
self to the family, or to his school. Every teacher would 
very much promote his own health by washing the 
whole surface of the body every morning in cold water. 
This is now done by very many of the most enlightened 
teachers, as well as others. When physiology is better 
understood this practice will be far more general. To 
no class of persons is it more essential than to the 
teacher ; for on account of his confinement, often in an 
unventilated room, with half a hundred children during 
the day, very much more is demanded of the exhalants 
in him than in others. His only safety is in a healthy 
action of the skin. 

The teeth should be attended to. A brush and clean 
water have saved many a set of teeth. It is bad enough 
to witness the deplorable neglect of these important 
organs so prevalent in the community; but it is ex- 
tremely mortifying to see a filthy set of teeth in the 
mouth of the teacher of our youth. The nails, too, I 



PERSONAL HABITS OF THE TEACHER 69 

am sorry to say, are often neglected by some of oiir 
teachers, till their ebony tips are anything but orna- 
mental. This matter is made worse when, in the pres- 
ence of the family or of the school, the penknife is 
brought into requisition to remove that which should 
have received attention at the time of washing in the 
morning. The teacher should remember that it is a 
vulgar habit to pare or clean the nails while in the 
presence of others, and especially during conversation 
with them. 

The teacher should be neat in his dress, f do not 
urge that his dress should be expensive. His income 
ordinarily will not admit of this. He may wear a very 
plain dress ; nor should it be any way singular in its 
fashion. All I ask is that his clothing should be in 
good taste, and always clean. A slovenly dress, cov- 
ered with dust, or spotted with grease, is never so much 
out of its proper place as when it clothes the teacher. 

While upon this subject I may be indulged in a word 
or two upon the use of tobacco by the teacher. It is 
quite a puzzle to me to tell why any man but a Turk, 
who may lawfully dream away half his existence over 
the fumes of this filthy narcotic, should ever use it. 
Even if there were nothing wrong in the use of unnat- 
ural stimulants themselves, the filthiness of tobacco is 
enough to condemn it among teachers, especially in the 
form of chewing. It is certainly worth while to ask 
whether there is not some moral delinquency in teach- 
ing this practice to the young, while it is admitted by 
nearly all who have fallen into the habit to be an evil, 
and one from which they would desire to be delivered. 
At any rate, I hope the time is coming when the good 
taste of teachers, and a regard for personal neatness 



70 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

and the comfort of others, shall present motives suffi- 
ciently strong to induce them to break away from a 
practice at once so unreasonable and so disgusting. 

2. Order. — In this place I refer to that system and 
regularity so desirable in every teacher. He should 
practice it in his room at his boarding house. Every- 
thing should have its place. His books, his clothing, 
should all be arranged with regard to this principle. 
The same habit should go with him to the schoolroom. 
His desk there should be a pattern of orderly arrange- 
ment. Practicing this himself, he may with propriety in- 
sist upon it in his pupils. It is of great moment to the 
teacher that, when he demands order and arrangement 
among his pupils, they cannot appeal to any breach of it 
in his own practice. 

3. Courtesy. — The teacher should ever be courteous, 
both in his language and in his manners. Courtesy of 
language may imply a freedom from all coarseness. 
There is a kind of communication used among boatmen 
and hangers-on at barrooms which should find no place 
in the teacher's vocabulary. All vulgar jesting, all 
double-entendres, all low allusions, should be forever 
excluded from his mouth. And profanity ! — can it be 
necessary that I should speak of this as among the 
habits of the teacher } Yes, it is even so. Such is the 
want of moral sense in the community, that men are 
still employed in some districts, whose ordinary conver- 
sation is poisoned with the breath of blasphemy ; aye, and 
even the walls of the schoolroom resound to undisguised 
oaths ! I cannot find words to express my astonishment 
at the indifference of parents, or at the recklessness of 
teachers, wherever I know such cases to exist. 

Speaking of the language of the teacher, I might 



PERSONAL HABITS OF THE TEACHER J\ 

urge also that it should be both pure and accurate. 
Pure as distinguished from all those cant phrases and 
provincialisms which amuse the vulgar in certain local- 
ities ; and accurate as to the terms used to express his 
meaning. As the teacher teaches in this, as in every- 
thing, by example as well as by precept, he should be 
very careful to acquire an unexceptionable use of our 
language, and never deviate from it in the hearing of 
his pupils or elsewhere. 

There is a courtesy of manner also, which should 
characterize the teacher. This is not that ridiculous 
obsequiousness which some persons assume when they 
would gain the good opinion of others. It is true polite- 
ness. By politeness I do not mean any particular form 
of words, nor any prescribed or prescribable mode of 
action. It does not consist in bowing according to any 
improved plan, nor in a compliance simply with the 
formulas of etiquette in the fashionable world. True 
politeness is founded in benevolence. Its law is em- 
bodied in the golden rule of the Savior : *' Whatso- 
ever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so 
unto them." It is the exercise of real kindness. It 
entertains a just regard for the feelings of others, and 
seeks to do for them what would make them really 
happy. 

The teacher should possess this quality. Whenever 
he meets a child, it should be with the looks and words 
of kindness. Whenever he receives any token of regard 
from a pupil, he should acknowledge it in the true spirit 
of politeness. Whenever he meets a pupil in the street, 
or in a public place, he should cordially recognize him. 
In this way and a thousand others, which, if he have the 
right spirit, will cost him nothing, he will cultivate true 



J 2 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

courtesy in his pupils. He can do it in this way more 
effectually than he can by formally lecturing upon the 
subject. True politeness will always win its true recip- 
rocation. Two teachers were once walking together in 
the streets of a large town in New England. Several 
lads whom they met on the sidewalk raised their caps 
as they exchanged the common salutations with one of 
the teachers. '' What boys are these that pay you such 
attention as they pass }'' inquired the other. ''They are 
my scholars," answered his friend. "Your scholars! 
Why, how do you teach them to be so very polite.-^ 
Mine are pretty sure never to look at me ; and generally 
they take care to be on the other side of the street." 
"I am unable to tell," said his friend; '' I never say any- 
thing about it. I usually bow to them, and they are 
as ready to bow to me." The whole secret consisted 
in this teacher's meeting his pupils in the spirit of 
kindness. 

I would not, however, discourage a teacher from actu- 
ally inculcating good manners by precept. It should 
indeed be done. The manners of pupils are too much 
neglected in most of our schools, and, I am sorry to 
say, in most of our families. Our youth are growing 
up with all the independence of sturdy young republi- 
cans, — and in their pride of freedom from govern- 
mental restraint, they sometimes show a want of respect 
for their seniors and superiors which is quite mortify- 
ing to all lovers of propriety. It is the teacher's prov- 
ince to counteract this ; and in order to do it well, he 
should possess the virtue of true courtesy, both in 
theory and practice. 

4. Punctuality. — This, as a habit, is essential to the 
teacher. He should be punctual in everything. He 



PERSONAL HABITS OF THE TEACHER 73 

should always be present at or before the time for 
opening the school. A teacher who goes late to school 
once a week, or even once a month, cannot very well 
enforce the punctual attendance of his pupils. I once 
knew a man who for seven long years was never late 
at school a single minute, and seldom did he fail to 
reach his place more than five minutes before the time. 
I never knew but one such. I have known scores who 
were frequently tardy, and sometimes by the space of 
a whole hour ! 

A teacher should be as punctual in dismissing as in 
opening his school. I know that some make a virtue 
of keeping their schools beyond the regular hours. I 
have always considered this a very questionable virtue. 
If a teacher wishes to stay beyond his time, it should be 
either with delinquents, who have some lessons to make 
up, or with those who voluntarily remain. But, after 
all, if he has been strictly punctual to the hours 
assigned for his various duties in school, there will 
scarcely be the necessity for him or any of his pupils 
to remain beyond the time for dismission ; and, as a 
general rule, a regard both for his own health and theirs 
should forbid this. It is better to work diligently while 
one does work, and not to protract the time of labor so 
as to destroy one's energy for to-morrow. 

This habit of punctuality should run through every- 
thing. He should be punctual at all engagements ; he 
should be studiously so in all the detail of school exer- 
cises ; he should be so at his meals, at his private 
studies, at his hour of retiring at night and of rising in 
the morning, and also at his exercise and recreation. 
This is necessary to a truly exemplary character, and 
it is equally as necessary to good health. 



74 THEORY AND PRACTICE OE TEACHING 

5. Habits of Study. — Unless the teacher takes care 
to furnish his own mind, he will soon find his present 
stock of knowledge, however liberal that may be, fading 
from his memory and becoming unavailable. To pre- 
vent this, and to keep along with every improvement, 
he should regularly pursue a course of study. I say 
regularly ; for in order to accompHsh anything really 
desirable, he must do something every day. By strict 
system in all his arrangements he may find time to do 
it ; and whenever I am told by a teacher that he cannot 
find time to study, I always infer that there is a want of 
order in his arrangements, or a want of punctuality in 
the observance of that order. Human life indeed is 
short; but most men still further abridge the period 
allotted to them, by a disregard of system. 

What has now been said upon the teacher's spirit, 
the teacher's responsibility, and the teacher's personal 
habits, will embody perhaps my views upon the char- 
acter of the individual who may be encouraged to en- 
gage in the work of teaching. Nor do I think the 
requirements in this department have been overstated. 
I know, indeed, that too many exercise the teacher's 
functions without the teacher's spirit as here described, 
and without the sense of responsibility here insisted on, 
and with habits entirely inconsistent with those here 
required. But this does not prove that such teachers 
have chosen the right calling, or that the children 
under their care are under safe and proper guidance. 
It proves rather that parents and school officers have 
too often neglected to be vigilant, or that suitable teach- 
ers could not be had. 

Let none think of lowering the standard to what has 
been or what may even now be that of a majority of 



PERSONAL HABITS OF THE TEACHER 75 

those who are engaged in this profession. Every young 
teacher's eye should be directed to the very best model 
in this work ; and he should never be satisfied with bare 
mediocrity. Excelsior, the motto of the Empire State, 
may well be the motto of the young teacher. 

REVIEW QUIZ 

1. What are habits ? 

2. Why are the teacher's habits so important? 

3. Instance habits essential to the teacher. 

4. What habits of neatness and cleanliness should be formed? 

5. What habits of system and order should he have? 

6. What is courtesy? The effect of courtesy upon pupils ? 

7. What faults of language is the teacher warned against? 

8. Courtesy of manner must be free from what faults? 

9. How can courtesy be learned in the schoolroom? 

10. What need is there for lessons in manners in our schoolrooms? 

1 1 . What habits of punctuality does the teacher need to have ? 

12. What habits of study should he form? (See also, p. 307.) 

13. What is the penalty for neglecting self-culture? 

HABITS WORTH CULTIVATING BY THE TEACHER 

I. Habits of Prudence: that is, habits which concern what he 
owes himself; as, self-care, self-respect, self-culture, self- 
rule, self-denial, purity, and temperance. 
H. Habits of /?/j^/<;i? : that is, habits that concern what he owes 
to others ; as, courtesy, deference, kindness, forbearance, 
patience, benevolence, beneiicence, impartiality, fairness, 
veracity, sincerity, and honesty. These are the social or 
cooperative habits. 
HI. Habits oi Fortitude : that is, habits which concern his power 
to withstand fittingly whatever threatens harm to his nature. 
His power to bear himself becomingly in the face of pros- 
perity and adversity, success and failure, flattery and condem- 
nation, pain and grief, obstacles and disappointment ought to 
settle as soon as possible into habit. Very essential habits 
these are. 



J 6 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

IV. Habits of Order : that is, habits which concern the fitting dis- 
posal of himself and his own ; as, diligence, industry, accu- 
racy, neatness, regularity, punctuality, system. These are 
the industrial habits. 



SIGNIFICANT THOUGHTS ABOUT HABIT 

1 . Every act of the soul leaves as an enduring result an increased 

power and tendency to act again in a like manner, and every 
repetition of the act increases this power and this tendency. 
When this tendency becomes so strong that an. act is repeated 
without conscious voluntary effort the result is called Habit. 
— White. 

2. Repetition is the mother of Habit. 

3. Habits are a necessity of nature. We are creatures of habit, 

despite our wills. 

4. We have truly learned only what has become habit. 

5. Habit steadies and strengthens the will, or weakens and en- 

slaves it. 

6. Happy is the man whose habits are his friends. 

7. Habit is a tyrant more easily avoided than conquered. — 

Dr. Johnson. 

8. We form habits easily in early life ; in later life they form us 

easily. 

9. The diminutive chains of habit are seldom heavy enough to be 

felt until they are too strong to be broken. — Dr. Johnson. 
ID. Habit second nature! Habit is ten times nature! — Duke 
of Wellington. 

11. Good habits are more important than good principles. — 

Robert Hall. 

12. Habits have more force in forming our characters than our 

opinions have. — Robert Hall. 

13. Sow acts and you reap habits; sow habits and you reap char- 

acter ; sow character and you reap destiny. 

14. Education is progressive habituation along the line of upward 

tendency. — Dr. G. S. Hall. 

15. The great problem in education is how best to place instincts 

and passions under the habitual control of reason, conscience, 
and will. — Spalding. 



PERSONAL HABITS OF THE TEACHER yy 

1 6. The teacher suffers more from unworthy habits than from 

unworthy scholarship. 

17. God has been good enough to make it just as easy to form 

good habits as bad ones, and just as hard to break them. — 
G. G. Bond. 

READINGS 

Radestock's Habit in Education. 

Krohn's Psychology, Chap. XVII. 

Todd's Student's Manual, Chap. II. 

Locke's Conduct of the Understanding, Sec. IV. 



CHAPTER V 

LITERARY QUALIFICATIONS OF THE TEACHER 

" How shall he give kindling, in whose inward man there is no 
live coal, but all is burnt-out to a dead grammatical cinder ? ^' 

— Carlyle. 

I AM now about to enter an extensive field. Since 
the teacher is to be the life of the school, it is of great 
consequence that he have within him the means of 
sustaining life. 

As the statutes in many of the states prescribe the 
mmininm of attainment for the teacher, I might per- 
haps spare myself the labor of writing on this point. 
Yet in a thorough work on the Theory and Practice of 
Teaching, this very properly comes under consideration. 

The profession of teaching is advancing. The pres- 
ent standard of acquirement demanded of the teacher 
excludes many who were considered quite respectable 
in their vocation ten years ago. This may well be so ; 
for within that time quite an advance has been made in 
the compensation offered to teachers. It is but reason- 
able that acquirement should keep pace with the reward 
of it. Indeed, the talent and attainment brought into 
the field must always be in advance of the rate of com- 
pensation. The people must be first convinced that 
teachers are better than they were years ago, and then 
they will be ready to reward them. In Massachusetts, 
according to statistics in the possession of the Hon. 

78 



LITERARY QUALIFICATIONS 79 

Horace Mann, Secretary of the Board of Education, 
the compensation of teachers within ten years has ad- 
vanced thirty-three per cent; nor is it reasonable to 
suppose that this advance has been made independent 
of any improvement among the teachers. Their system 
of supervision has increased in strictness during this 
time in an equal ratio; and many teachers who were 
entirely incompetent for their places have thus been 
driven to other employments. The cause is still on- 
ward ; and the time is not far distant when the people 
will demand still more thorough teachers for the com- 
mon schools, and they will find it for their interest to 
pay for them. 

Under these circumstances, it will not be my design 
to give the very lowest qualifications for a teacher at 
present. I shall aim to describe those which a teacher 
ought to possess, in order to command, for some time to 
come, the respect of the enlightened part of the com- 
munity. I will not say that a man with less attainment 
than I shall describe may not keep a good school ; I 
have no doubt that many do. Yet if our profession is 
to be really respectable, and truly deserving of the re- 
gard of an enlightened people, we must have a still 
higher standard of qualification than I shall now insist 
on. The following is a list of the studies of which 
every teacher should have a competent knowledge. I 
add also to each such word of comment as appears to 
be necessary. 

I. Orthography. — This implies something more 
than mere spelling. Spelling is certainly indispensable. 
No person should ever think of teaching, who is not an 
accurate speller. But the nature and poivers of letters 
should also be mastered. We have in our language 



8o THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

about forty elementary sounds ; yet we have but twenty- 
six characters to represent them. Our alphabet is there- 
fore imperfect. This imperfection is augmented by the 
fact that several of the letters are employed each to 
represent several different sounds. In other cases, two 
letters combined represent the element. There are also 
letters, as c, q, and x, which have no sound that is not 
fully represented by other letters. Then a very large 
number of our letters are silent in certain positions, 
while they are fully sounded in others. It were much 
to be desired that we might have a perfect alphabet, 
that is, as many characters as we have elementary 
sounds, and that each letter should have but one sound. 
For the present this cannot be; and the present gen- 
eration of teachers, at least, will have to teach our 
present orthography. Those systems of orthography 
are much to be preferred which begin with the ele- 
mcfitary soimds, and then present the letters as their 
representatives, together with the practice of analyzing 
words into their elements, thus showing at once the 
silent letters and the equivalents. These systems may 
be taught in half the time that the old systems can be ; 
and when acquired they are of much greater practical 
utility to the learner. As my views have been more 
fully presented in the " Normal Chart of Elementary 
Sounds," prepared for the use of schools, I will only 
refer the reader to that work. 

2. Reading. — Every teacher should be a good reader. 
Not more than one in every hundred among teachers 
can now be called a good reader. To be able to read 
well, implies a quick perception of the meaning as well 
as a proper enunciation of the words. It is a branch 
but poorly taught in most of our schools. Many of the 



LITERARY QUALIFICATIONS 8 1 

older pupils get above reading before they have learned 
to read well ; and, unfortunately, many of our teachers 
cannot awaken an interest in the subject, because very 
likely they cannot read any better than their scholars. 
It would be interesting to ascertain how large a pro- 
portion of our youth leave the schools without acquiring 
the power readily to take tJie sense of any common para- 
graph which they may attempt to read. I am inclined 
to think the number is not small.^ In this way I ac- 
count for the fact that so many cease to read as soon 
as they leave school. It costs them so much effoi^t to 
decipher the meaning of a book, that it counteracts the 
desire for the gratification and improvement it might 
otherwise afford. It should not be so. The teacher 
should be a model of good reading; he should be en- 

1 Since writing the above, my eye has fallen upon the following, from 
the second Annual Report of the Secretary of the Mass. Board of Educa- 
tion. "I have devoted," says Mr. Mann, "especial pains to learn, with 
some degree of numerical accuracy, how far the reading in our schools is 
an exercise of the mind in thinking and feeling, and how far it is a barren 
action of the organs of speech upon the atmosphere. My information is 
derived principally from the written statements of the school committees 
of the different towns, — gentlemen who are certainly exempt from all 
temptation to disparage the schools they superintend. The result is that 
more than eleven twelfths of all the children in the reading classes in our 
schools do not understand the meaning of the words they read; that they 
do not master the sense of their reading lessons; and that the ideas and 
feelings intended by the author to be conveyed to and excited in the 
reader's mind, still rest in the author's intention, never having yet reached 
the place of their destination. It would hardly seem that the combined 
efforts of all persons engaged could have accomplished more in defeating 
the true objects of reading. How the cause of this deficiency is to be 
apportioned among the legal supervisors of the schools, parents, teachers, 
and authors of text-books, it is impossible to say; but surely it is an evil, 
gratuitous, widely prevalent, and threatening the most alarming conse- 
quences." 

B.-P. THE. & PR. TEACHING — 6 



82 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

thusiastic in this branch, and never rest till he has ex- 
cited the proper interest in it among the pupils, from 
the oldest to the youngest, in the school. 

It would be well if our teachers could be somewhat 
acquainted with the Latin and Greek languages, as this 
would afford them great facilities in comprehending 
and defining many of our own words. As this cannot 
be expected for the present, a substitute may be sought 
in some analysis of our derivative words. Several 
works have somewhat recently been prepared, to sup- 
ply, as far as may be, the wants of those who have not 
studied the classics. I should advise every teacher, for 
his own benefit, to master some one of these. 

3. Writing. — It is not respectable for the teacher 
of the young to be a bad writer ; nor can it ever become 
so, even should the majority of bad writers continue 
to increase. The teacher should take great pains to 
write a plain, legible hand. This is an essential quali- 
fication. 

4. Geography. — A knowledge of the principles of 
geography is essential. This implies an acquaintance 
with the use of globes, and the art of map drawing. 
The teacher should be so well versed in geography that 
with an outline map of any country ^before him, he 
could give an intelligent account of its surface, people, 
resources, history, etc. ; and if the outline map were not 
at hand, he ought to be able to draw one from memory, 
— at least, of each of the grand divisions of the earth, 
and of the United States. 

5. History. — The teacher should be acquainted with 
history, — at least, the history of the United States. 
He can hardly teach geography successfully without a 
competent knowledge of both ancient and modern his- 



LITERARY QUALIFICATIONS 83 

tory. It should, in the main, be taught in our common 
schools in connection with geography. 

6. Mental Arithmetic. — Let every teacher be 
thoroughly versed in some good work on this subject. 
Colburn's was the first, and it is probably the best that 
has been prepared. That little book has done more 
than any other for the improvement of teaching in this 
country. It is not enough that the teacher is able in 
some way to obtain the ansiuers to the questions proposed. 
He should be able to give the reason for every step in 
the process he takes to obtain them, and to do it in a 
clear and concise manner. It is this which constitutes 
the value of this branch as a discipline for the mind. 

I may never forget my first introduction to this work. 
On entering an academy as a student, in 1827, after I 
had "ciphered through" some four or five arithmetics 
on the old plan, my teacher asked me if I had ever 
studied Mental Arithmetic, extending to me the little 
book above named. " No, sir." '' Perhaps you would 
like to do so." I opened to the first page, and saw this 
question : '' How many thumbs have you on your right 
hand t " This was enough ; the color came into my 
face and I pettishly replied, " I think I can find out the 
number of my thumbs without studying a book for it." 
'* But," said the teacher, ** many of our young men have 
studied it and they think they have been profited. If 
you will take it, and turn over till you find a little exer- 
cise for your mind, I think you will Hke it." His man- 
ner was open and sincere, and I took the little book. 
In three weeks I had mastered it ; and I had gained, in 
that time, more knowledge of the principles of arith- 
metic than I had ever acquired in all my life before. I 
no longer '' saw through a glass darkly." 



84 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

7. Written Arithmetic. — This everybody demands 
of the teacher; and he is scarcely in danger of being 
without fair pretensions in this branch. He should, 
however, know it by its principles^ rather than by its 
rules and facts. He should so understand it, that if 
every arithmetic in the world should be burned, he 
could still make another, constructing its rules and 
explaining their principles. He should understand 
arithmetic so well that he could teach it thoroughly 
though all text-books should be excluded from his 
schoolroom. This is not demanding too much. Arith- 
metic is a certain science, and used every day of one's 
life, — the teacher should be an entire master of it. 

8. English Grammar. — It is rare that a teacher is 
found without some pretensions to English grammar; 
yet it is deplorable to observe how very few have any 
liberal or philosophical acquaintance with it. In many 
cases it is little else than a system of barren technicali- 
ties. The teacher studies one book, and too often takes 
that as his creed. In no science is it more necessary to 
be acquainted v/ith several authors. The person who 
has studied but one text-book on grammar, even if that 
be the best one extant, is but poorly qualified to teach 
this branch. There is a philosophy of language which 
the teacher should carefully study ; and if within his 
power he should have some acquaintance with the 
peculiar structure of other languages besides his own. 
It can hardly be expected that the common teacher 
should acquire an accurate knowledge of other lan- 
guages by actually studying them. As a substitute for 
this, I would recommend that the teacher should very 
carefully read the little work of De Sacy on General 
Grammar ; also the article " Grammar " in the Edin- 



LITERARY QUALIFICATIONS 85 

burgh and other encyclopedias. In this science the mind 
naturally runs to bigotiy ; and there is no science where 
the learner is apt to be so conceited upon small acquire- 
ments as in grammar. Let the teacher spare no pains 
to master this subject. 

9. Algebra. — This branch is not yet required to be 
taught in all our schools ; yet the teacher should have a 
thorough acquaintance with it. Even if he is never 
called upon to teach it (and it never should be intro- 
duced into our common schools till very thorough 
attainments are more common in the other branches), 
still it so much improves the mind of the teacher that 
he should not be without a knowledge of it. He will 
teach simple arithmetic much better for knowing alge- 
bra. I consider an acquaintance with it indispensable 
to the thorough teacher, even of the common school. 

10. Geometry. — The same may be said of this 
branch that has been said of algebra. Probably nothing 
disciplines the mind more effectually than the study of 
geometry. The teacher should pursue it for this 
reason. He will teach other things the better for hav- 
ing had this discipline, to say nothing of the advantage 
which a knowledge of the principles of geometry will 
give him in understanding and explaining the branches 
of mathematics. 

11. Plane Trigonometry and Surveying. — In 
many of our schools these branches are required to be 
taught. They are important branches in themselves, 
and they also afford good exercise for the mind in their 
acquisition. The young teacher, especially the male 
teacher, should make the acquirement. 

12. Natural Philosophy. — This branch is not 
taught in most of our district schools. The teacher, 



86 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

however, should understand it better than it is presented 
in many of the simple text-books on this subject. He 
should have studied the philosophy of its principles, and 
be fully acquainted with their demonstration. If possible 
he should have had an opportunity also of seeing the 
principles illustrated by experiment. This is a great 
field; let not the teacher be satisfied with cropping a 
little of the herbage about its borders. 

13. Chemistry. — As a matter of intelhgence the 
teacher should have acquaintance with this branch. It 
is comparatively a new science, but it is almost a science 
of miracles. It is beginning to be taught in our com- 
mon schools ; and that department of it which relates 
to agriculture is destined to be of vast importance to 
the agricultural interests of our country. " Instead of 
conjecture, and hazard, and doubt, and experiment, as 
heretofore, a knowledge of the composition of soils, the 
food of plants, and the processes of nature in the cul- 
ture and growth of crops, would elevate agriculture to 
a conspicuous rank among the exact sciences."^ The 
teacher should not be behind the age in this depart- 
ment. 

14. Human Physiology. — The teacher should well 
understand this subject. There is an unpardonable 
ignorance in the community as to the structure of the 
human body, and the laws of health, the observance of 
which is, in general, a condition of longevity, not to say 
of exemption from disease. By reference to statistics 
it has been ascertained that almost a fourth part of all 
the children that are born die before they are one year 
old. More than one third die before they are five years 
of age ; and before the age of eight more than one half 

1 Colonel Young. 



LITERARY QUALIFICATIONS 8/ 

of all that are born return again to the earth ! Of those 
who survive, how many suffer the miseries of lingering 
disease, almost sighing for death to deliver them from, 
the pangs of life ! There is something deplorably wrong 
in our philosophy of living, else the condition of man 
would not so commonly appear an exception to the truth 
that God does all things well.^ Dr. Woodward, late of 
the Massachusetts State Lunatic Hospital, says : " From 
the cradle to the grave, we suffer punishment for the 
violation of the laws of health and life. I have no doubt 
that half the evils of life and half the deaths that occur 
among mankind arise from ignorance of these natural 
laws ; and that a thorough knowledge of them would 
diminish the sufferings incident to our present state of 
being in very nearly the same proportion." I know not 
how an acquaintance with these laws can be in any way 
so readily extended as through the agency of our 
teachers of the young. At any rate, the teacher him- 
self should understand them, both for his own profit 
and the means thus afforded him of being directly useful 
in the discharge of his duties to others. I have already 
shown that he is responsible to a great extent for the 
bodily health of his pupils. A thorough knowledge of 
physiology will enable him to meet this responsibility. 

1 " It is the vast field of ignorance pertaining to these subjects in which 
quackery thrives and fattens. No one who knows anything of the organs 
and functions of the human system, and of the properties of those objects 
in nature to which that system is related, can hear a quack descant upon 
the miraculous virtues of his nostrums, or can read his advertisements 
in the newspapers, — wherein, fraudulently toward man and impiously 
toward God, he promises to sell an 'Elixir of Life,' or 'The Balm of 
Immortality,' or ' Resurrection Pills,' — without contempt for his igno- 
rance or detestation of his guilt. Could the quack administer his nos- 
trums to the great enemy, Death, then indeed we might expect to live 
forever ! " — Horace Mann. 



8S THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

15. Intellectual Philosophy. — This is necessary 
for the teacher. His business is with the mind. He, 
of all men, should know something of its laws and its 
nature. He can know something, indeed, by observa- 
tion and introspection ; but he should also learn by 
careful study. His own improvement demands it, and 
his usefulness depends upon it. 

16. Moral Philosophy. — A knowledge of this may 
be insisted on for the same reasons which apply to intel- 
lectual philosophy. It is so important that the moral 
nature of the child be rightly dealt with, that he is a 
presumptuous man who attempts the work without the 
most careful attention to this subject. 

1 7. Rhetoric and Logic. — These are of great service 
to the teacher personally, as means of mental discipline 
and the cultivation of his own taste. Even if he is 
never to teach them, they will afford him much assist- 
ance in other departments of instruction. He certainly 
should have the advantage of them. 

18. Bookkeeping. — Every teacher should know 
something of bookkeeping, at least by single entry ; and 
also be conversant with the ordinary forms of business. 
The profound ignorance on this subject among teachers 
is truly astonishing.^ Bookkeeping should be a common- 
school study. In looking over the able Report of the 
Superintendent of Common Schools in New York, I 

1 A teacher, who had kept a private school, was met in a country store 
one day by one of his patrons, who paid him for the tuition of his child, 
asking at the same time for a receipt. The teacher stared vacantly at his 
patron. " Just give me a bit of paper," said the patron, " to show you've 
got the money." "Oh, yes, sir," said the teacher; and taking a pen and 
paper, wrote the following: — 

I have got the money 

"J D ." 



LITERARY QUALIFICATIONS 89 

notice in fifty-three counties, during the winter of 
1845-6, that among 225,540 pupils in the common 
schools only 922 studied bookkeeping ! That is a 
study which in practical life comes home to the interest 
not only of every merchant, but of every farmer, every 
mechanic, in short, every business man, but it is almost 
entirely neglected in the schools, — while it is yet true 
that our courts of justice display evidences of the most 
deplorable ignorance in this important art. Some still 
keep their accounts on bits of paper ; others use books, 
but without any system, order, or intelligibility ; and 
others still mark their scores in chalk or charcoal upon 
the panel of the cellar door. 

The teacher should qualify himself not only to under- 
stand this subject, but to teach it in such a way that 
it can be easily comprehended by the classes in our 
common schools. 

19. Science of Government. — The teacher should 
at least be well acquainted with the history and genius 
of our own government, the constitution of the United 
States and of his own state. In a republican govern- 
ment, it is of great importance that the young, who are 
to take an active part in public measures as soon as 
they arrive at the age of twenty-one, should before that 
time be made acquainted with some of their duties and 
relations as citizens. This subject has been introduced 
successfully into many of our common schools ; but 
whether it is to be matter of formal teaching or not, it 
is a disgrace ^ to a teacher and to his profession to be 
ignorant of the provisions of the constitution for the 
mode of choosing our rulers. 

1 Not long since a teacher of a public school afforded lasting amusement 
for the hangers-on at a country grocery. He was jeered for belonging to 



90 THEORY A.VD PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

20. Drawing. — The good teacher should understand 
the prmciples of drawing. He should also be able to 
practice this art. It is of great consequence to him. 
Without neglect of other things children can be very 
profitably taught this art in the common schools. In 
the absence of apparatus, it is the teacher's only way 
of addressing the eye of his pupils in illustrating his 
teaching. Every teacher should take pains, not only 
to draw, but to draw well. 

21. Vocal Music. — It is not absolutely essential, 
though very desirable, to the good teacher, that he 
should understand music, theoretically and practically. 
Music is becoming an exercise in our best schools ; and 
wherever introduced and judiciously conducted it has 
been attended with pleasing results. It promotes good 
reading and speaking by disciplining the ear to dis- 
tinguish sounds ; and it also facilitates the cultivation 
of the finer feelings of our nature. It aids very much 
in the government of the school, as its exercise gives 
vent to that restlessness which otherwise would find an 
escapement in boisterous noise and whispering, — and 
thus it often proves a safety valve, through which a 
love of vociferation and activity may pass off in a more 
harmless and a more pleasing way. " The schoolmaster 
that cannot sing," says Martin Luther, '' I would not 
look upon." Perhaps this language is too strong; but 
it is usually more pleasant to look upon a school where 
the schoolmaster can sing. 



the Whig party by which Mr. Tyler was brought into power. "No, no," 
said he, "I voted for General Harrison, but I never voted for John Tyler T 
"How did you do that?" inquired a by-stander. ''Whyy I cut Tyler^s 
name off of the ticket, to be sure ! " 



LITERARY QUALIFICATIONS 9 1 

I have thus gone through with a list of studies 
which, it seems to me, every one who means to be a 
good teacher, even of a common school, should make 
himself acquainted with. I would not condemn a 
teacher who, having other good qualities, and a thor- 
ough scholarship as far as he had gone, might lack 
several of the branches above named. There have 
been many good teachers without all this attainment; 
but how much better they might have been with it ! 

I have made this course of study as limited as I 
possibly could, taking into view the present condition 
and wants of our schools. No doubt even more will 
be demanded in a few years. I would have the present 
race of teachers so good that they shall be looked upon 
by those who succeed them as their '' zvorthy aiid effi- 
cient predecessors'' 

I ought in this place to add that the teacher in- 
creases his influence, and consequently his usefulness, 
in proportion as he makes himself conversant with 
general knowledge. This is too much neglected. The 
teacher, by the fatigue of his employment and the cir- 
cumstances of his life, is strongly tempted to content 
himself with what he already knows, or at best to con- 
fine himself to the study of those branches which he 
is called upon to teach. He should stoutly resist this 
temptation. He should always have some course of 
study marked out which he will systematically pur- 
sue. He should, as soon as possible, make himself 
acquainted generally with the subject of astronomy, 
the principles of geology, in short, the various branches 
of natural history. He will find one field after another 
open before him, and if he will but have the persever- 
ance to press forward, even in the laborious occupa- 



92 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

tion of teaching, he may make hhnself a well-informed 
man. 

I will venture one other suggestion. I have found 
it a most profitable thing in the promotion of my own 
improvement, to take up annually, or oftener, some 
particular subject to be pursued with reference to writ- 
ing an extended lecture upon it. This gives point to 
the course of reading, and keeps the interest fixed. 
When the thorough investigation has been made, let 
the lecture be written from memory, embodying all 
the prominent points, and presenting them in the most 
striking and systematic matter. It should be done, too, 
with reference to accuracy and even elegance of style, 
so that the composition may be yearly "improved. In 
this way certain subjects are forever fixed in the mind. 
One who carefully reads for a definite object, and 
afterwards writes the results from memory, never loses 
his hold upon the facts thus appropjHated. 

TOPICAL OUTLINE 

I . The profession of teaching is advancing. 

1. Indications of it. 

2. Warning to teachers. 

II. Qualifications necessaiy to connnajid respect. 

1. Orthography. 

a. What the teacher must be. 

b. What he ought to know. 

(i) The nature and power of letters. 

(2) The imperfections of our alphabet. 

(3) The analysis of words into elements. 

(4) The analysis of derivatives. 

2. Reading. 

a. What a teacher must be. 

b. Two essentials of good reading. 

c. Mr. Mannas complaint. 

d. The help afforded by Latin and Greek. 



LITERARY QUALIFICATIONS 93 

3. Writing. 

a. Wliat every teacher must be able to do. 

4. Geography. 

a. Wliat a teacher must know. 

b. What this implies. 

c. Ancient and modern history helpful. How? 

5. History. 

a. Thorough knowledge of United States history, at 

least. 

b. Ancient and modern history essential here also. 

c. How studied and taught ? 

6. Mental Arithmetic. 

a. Colburn's Mental Arithmetic recommended. 

b. How the subject must be known. 

c. Page, a seventeen year old schoolboy mastered the 

book in three weeks. 

d. The peculiar value of mental arithmetic. 

7. Algebra, Geometry, and Trigonometry. 

a. The value of each to the teacher. 

8. Natural Philosophy (Physics). 

a. What the subject treats of. Illustrate. 

b. Its value to the teacher. 

9. Chemistry. 

a. What the subject treats of. Illustrate. 

b. Its value. Its practical value. 

10. Physiology. 

a. What the subject treats of. 

b. Its uses. List these at length. 

11. Intellectual and Moral Philosophy. 

a. What do the terms mean? 

b. The teacher's professional usefulness dependent 

upon knowledge of these. How? 

c. How these subjects are to be studied. 

12. Logic, Rhetoric, and Literature. 

a. What does each of these treat of ? 

b. Value of each to the teacher? 

13. Bookkeeping. 

a. The practical need of this knowledge. 

14. Science of Government (Civics). 

a. What does the subject treat of ? 



94 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

b. What the teacher must know, at the least. 

c. Its value as a school subject. 

15. Drawing. 

a. Its values for the teacher. 

b. For the pupil. 

16. Music. 

a. Values of music in the schoolroom. 
III. Self-culture. (See also Sec. II., p. 303.) 

1. How is the teacher to acquire a knowledge of these 

subjects ? 

2. Hindrances? How overcome them? 

3. How Page himself overcame them. 

4. Reading and thinking on special subjects. 

5. Page's habit. Its value? 

QUOTATIONS 

1. More teachers are failing in this country to-day from lack of 

scholarship than from any other one cause. 

2. One of the great teaching forces is intellectual mastery and 

leadership. 

3. Much as I value the knowledge of the principles which underlie 

the art of teaching, I set a far higher value on the thorough 
mastery of the subjects taught. I would much rather have 
my child instructed by a teacher who had mastered the 
subject taught, and who trusted to his familiarity with it in 
all its parts for suggestions as to the best method of present- 
ing it, than by one who, with an inferior equipment of knowl- 
edge, made it an invariable rule of practice to proceed from 
the concrete to the abstract, from the known to the unknown 
in his teaching. And so I say that the first duty of the 
teacher, and the one which demands special emphasis at this 
time, is the duty of scholarship. 
— John Tetlow, Morgan's "Educational Mosaics," p. 245. 



CHAPTER VI 

RIGHT VIEWS OF EDUCATION 

" Education does not mean teaching people to know what they 
do not know. It means teaching them to behave as they do not 
behave. It is not teaching the youth the sliapes of letters and the 
tricks of numbers, and then leaving them to turn their literature 
into lust and their arithmetic into roguery." — Ruskin. 

Every teacher, before he begins the work of instruc- 
tion, should have some definite idea of what constitutes 
an education; otherwise he may work to very little 
purpose. The painter who would execute a beautiful 
picture must have beforehand a true and clear concep- 
tion of beauty in his own mind. The same may be said 
of the sculptor. That rude block of marble, unsightly 
to the eyes of other men, contains the godlike form, 
the symmetrical proportion, the lifelike attitude of the 
finished and polished statue ; and the whole is as clear 
to his mental eye before the chisel is applied as it is to 
his bodily vision when the work is completed. With 
this perfect ideal in the mind at the outset, every stroke 
of the chisel has its object. Not a blow is struck, but 
it is guided by consummate skill; not a chip is removed, 
but to develop the ideal of the artist. And when the 
late unsightly marble, as if by miraculous power, stands 
out before the astonished spectator in all the perfection 
of beauty, — when it almost breathes and speaks, — it 
is to the artist but the realization of his own conception. 

Now let the same astonished and delighted spectator, 

95 



96 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

with the same instruments, attempt to produce another 
statue from a similar block. On this side he scores too 
deep; on the other he leaves a protuberance; hereby 
carelessness he encroaches upon the rounded limb; 
there by accident he hews a chip from off the nose ; by 
want of skill one eye ill-mates the other; one hand is 
distorted as if racked by pangs of the gout ; the other 
is paralyzed and deathlike. Such would be his signal 
failure. Thus he might fail a thousand times. Indeed 
it would be matter of strange surprise if in a thousand 
efforts he should once succeed. 

Now the difference between the artist and the spec- 
tator lies chiefly in this, — the one knows beforehand 
what he means to do; the other works without any 
plan. The one has studied beauty till he can see it in 
the rugged block ; the other only knows it when it is 
presented to him. The former, having an ideal, pro- 
duces it with unerring skill ; the latter, having no con- 
ception to guide him, brings out deformity. 

"What sculpture is to the block of marble," says 
Addison, ''education is to the human soul; " and may I 
not add that the sculptor is a type of the true educator, 
— while the spectator, of whom I have been speak- 
ing, may aptly represent too many false teachers who 
without study or forethought enter upon the delicate 
business of fashioning the human soul, blindly experi- 
menting amidst the wreck of their heaven-descended 
material, maiming and marring, with scarcely the pos- 
sibility of final success, — almost with the certainty of 
a melancholy failure ! 

In other things besides education men are wiser. 
They follow more the teachings of nature and of com- 
mon sense. But in education, where a child has but 



RIGHT VIEWS OF EDUCATION 97 

one opportunity for mental training, as he can be a 
child but once, — where success, unerring success, is 
everything to him for time and eternity, and where a 
.mistake may be most ruinous to him, — in education 
men often forget their ordinary wisdom and providence 
and commit the most important concerns to the most 
incompetent hands. ''The prevailing opinions," says 
George B. Emerson, " in regard to this art are such as 
the common sense of mankind and the experience of 
centuries have shown to be absurd as to every other art 
and pursuit of civilized life. To be qualified to dis- 
course upon our moral and reUgious duties, a man 
must be educated by years of study; to be able to 
administer to the body in disease, he must be educated 
by a careful examination of the body in health and in 
disease, and of the effects produced on it by external 
agents ; to be able to make out a conveyance of prop- 
erty, or to draw a writ, he must be educated; to navi- 
gate a ship he must be educated by years of service 
before the mast or on the quarterdeck; to transfer the 
products of the earth or of art from the producer to 
the consumer, he must be educated; to make a hat or 
a coat he must be educated by years of apprenticeship ; 
to make a plow he must be educated ; to make a nail, 
or a shoe for a horse or an ox, he must be educated : — 
but to prepare a man to do all these things ; — to train 
the body in its most tender years, according to the laws 
of health, so that it should be strong to resist disease; 
to fill the mind with useful knowledge, to educate it to 
comprehend all the relations of society, to bring out all 
its powers into full and harmonious action ; to educate 
the moral nature, in which the very sentiment of duty 
resides, that it may be fitted for an honorable and 

B.-P. THE. & PR. TEACHING — 7 



98 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

worthy fulfillment of the public and private offices of 
life ; to do all this is supposed to require no study, no 
apprenticeship, no preparation ! " 

Many teachers, therefore, encouraged by this unac- 
countable indifference in the community, have entered 
the teacher's profession without any idea of the respon- 
sibilities assumed or of the end to be secured by their 
labors, aside from receiving, at the close of their term, 
the compensation for their service in dollars and cents. 
And even many who have entered this profession with 
good intentions, have made the most deplorable mis- 
takes from a want of an adequate idea of what consti- 
tutes an education. Too often has educating a child 
been considered simply the act of imparting to it a 
certain amount of knowledge, or of '' carrying it 
through " a certain number of studies more or less. 
Education has too frequently been held to be a cultiva- 
tion of the intellectual to the neglect of the moral 
powers; and the poor body too, except among savages, 
has had but little share in its privileges or benefits. In 
a very large number of our schools the physical and the 
moral have both been sacrificed to the intellectual. 
Even some of our public speakers have dwelt upon the 
necessity of intelligence to the perpetuity of our free 
institutions, scarcely seeming to be aware that intelli- 
gence, without moral principle to direct and regulate 
it, might become the very engine through which evil 
men might effect our overthrow. Who has not seen 
that an educated man without virtue is but the more 
capable of doing evil .'* Who does not know that 
knowledge misdirected becomes, instead of a boon to 
be desired, a bane to be deprecated } 

From what has been said I place it among the high- 



RIGHT VIEWS OF EDUCATION 



99 



est qualifications of the teacher that he should have 
just views of education, I consider it all-important that 
he should have a well-defined object at which to aim, 
whenever he meets a young mind in the transition 
state. He should have an ideal of a well-educated 
human soul, tenanting a healthy, well-developed human 
body ; an ideal which he at once, and systematically, 
labors to reach, as does the sculptor when he com- 
mences his work upon the quarried marble. " What 
is it to educate a human being aright.'^" should be one 
of the first questions the candidate for the teacher's 
office should ask himself, with the deepest seriousness. 
I say the candidate ; for this question should be settled, 
if possible, before he begins his work. It is a great 
question, and he may not be able to answer it in a day. 
Let him consult the dictates of his own mind, — let 
him consult the teachings of experience and of wisdom, 
as they are to be found in the writings of Milton, Locke, 
Wyse, Cousin, Brougham, and others of the eastern 
continent, and of Wayland, Potter, Mann, G. B. Emer- 
son, Dwight, and others of our own countrymen. Let 
him, enlightened by all this, carefully observe human 
nature around him ; consider its tendencies, its wants, 
and its capabilities ; and, after a patient survey of all 
the truth he can discover upon the subject, let him 
come to an honest conclusion as to what is a correct 
answer to the query with which he started — *' What 
is it to educate a human being aright }'' 

The conclusions of the honest and intelligent inquirer 
after the truth in this matter, will be something like 
the following : That education (from e and duco, to 
lead forth) is development ; that it is not instruction 
merely — knowledge, facts, rules — communicated by 



lOO THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

the teacher, but it is discipline, it is a waking up of 
the mind, a growth of the mind, — growth by a healthy 
assimilation of wholesome aliment. It is an inspiring of 
the mind with a thirst for knowledge, growth, enlarge- 
ment, — and then a disciplining of its powers so far 
that it can go on to educate itself. It is the arousing 
of the child's mind to think, without thinking for it; 
it is the awakening of its powers to observe, to remem- 
ber, to reflect, to combine. It is not a cultivation of 
the memory to the neglect of everything else ; but it is 
a calling forth of all the faculties into harmonious 
action. If to possess facts simply is education, then an 
encyclopaedia is better educated than a man. 

It should be remarked that, though knowledge is not 
education, yet there will be no education without knowl- 
edge. Knowledge is ever an incident of true educa- 
tion. No man can be properly educated without the 
acquisition of knowledge ; the mistake is in considering 
knowledge the end, when it is either the incident or the 
means of education. The discipline of the mind, then, is 
the great thing in intellectual training ; and the question 
is not, how much have I acquired } but, how have my 
powers been strengthened in the act of acquisition '^. 

Nor should the intellectual be earlier cultivated than 
the moral powers of the mind. The love of moral truth 
should be as early addressed as the love of knowledge. 
The conscience should be early exercised in judging of 
the character of the pupil's own acts, and every oppor- 
tunity afforded to strengthen it by legitimate use. Nor 
should the powers of the mind be earlier cultivated than 
those of the body. It is the theory of some, indeed, 
that the body should engross most of the attention for 
several of the first years of childhood. This, I think, 



RIGHT VIEWS OF EDUCATION lOI 

is not nature's plan. She cultivates all the powers at 
once, — the body, mind, and heart. So should the 
teacher do. '' Education," in the pertinent language of 
Mr. Fox,^ '' has reference to the zvJiole man, the body, 
the mind, and the heart; its object, and, when rightly 
conducted, its effect, is to make him a complete creature 
after his kind. To his frame it would give vigor, activ- 
ity, and beauty ; to his senses, correctness and acute- 
ness ; to his intellect, power and truthfulness ; to his 
heart, virtue. The educated man is not the gladiator, 
nor the scholar, nor the upright man, alone ; but a just 
and well-balanced combination of all three. Just as the 
educated tree is neither the large root, nor the giant 
branches, nor the rich foliage, but all of them together. 
If you would mark the perfect man, you must not look 
for him in the circus, the university, or the church, ex- 
clusively; but you must look for one who has ^ vteris 
Sana in corpore sano' — a healthful mind in a healthful 
body. The being in whom you find this union is the 
only one worthy to be called educated. To make all 
men such is the object of education." 

I have dwelt thus fully on this subject, because it is 
so obvious that egregious mistakes are made in education. 
How many there are who are called "good scholars" in 
our schools, of whom we hear nothing after they go 
forth into the world. Their good scholarship consists in 
that which gives them no impulse to go on to greater 
attainments by themselves. Their learning is either that 
of reception — as the sponge takes in water — or that of 
mere memory. Their education is not discipline ; it kin- 
dles none of those desires which nothing but further prog- 
ress can satisfy ; it imparts none of that self-reliance which 

1 Lecture before the Am. Institute, 1835. 



102 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

nothing but impossibilities can ever subdue. While 
these are pointed out by their teachers as the ornaments 
of their schools, there are others, known as the heavy, 
dull, " poor scholars," in no way distinguished but by 
their stupidity, — of whom no hopes are entertained 
because of them nothing is expected, — who in after-life 
fairly outstrip their fellows and strangely astonish their 
teachers. Almost every teacher of fifteen years' experi- 
ence has noticed this. Now, why is it so .? There must 
have been somehow in such cases a gross misjudgment 
of character. Either those pupils who promised so 
much by their quickness, were educated wrong, and 
perhaps educated too much, while their teachers unwit- 
tingly and unintentionally educated their less distin- 
guished companions far more judiciously ; or else, na- 
ture in such cases must be said to have been playing 
such odd pranks that legitimate causes could not pro- 
duce their legitimate effects. We must charge nature 
as being extremely capricious, or we must allege that 
the teachers entirely misunderstand their work, failing 
where they expected most, and succeeding as if by 
chance — almost against their will — where they ex- 
pected least. I incline to the latter alternative ; and 
hence I infer that there is such a thing as teaching a 
mind naturally active too much, — exciting it too much, 
— so that it will prematurely exhaust its energies and 
gladly settle back into almost imbecility ; and that there 
is such a thing as leaving the mind so much to its own 
resources, that without dazzling the beholder like the 
flash of the meteor when it glares upon the startled 
vision, it may be silently gathering materials to support 
the more enduring light of the morning star which anon 
will arise in majesty and glory. 



RIGHT VIEWS OF EDUCATION 1 03 

It will be well for our youth when our teachers shall 
so understand human nature, and so comprehend the 
science and the art of education, that these mistakes shall 
seldom occur ; and when he who tills the nobler soil of 
the mind, shall, with as much faith and as much cer- 
tainty as he who tills the hteral field, rely upon the ful- 
fillment of Heaven's unchangeable law : *' Whatsoever a 
man soweth, that shall he also reap." 

A LIBERAL EDUCATION 

" That man, I think, has had a liberal education who 
has been so trained in youth, that his body is the ready 
servant of his will, and does with ease and pleasure all 
the work that as a mechanism it is capable of ; whose 
intellect is a clear, cold, logic engine, with all its parts 
of equal strength, and in smooth working order, ready, 
like a steam engine, to be turned to any kind of^ork, 
and spin the gossamers as well as forge the anchors of 
the mind ; whose mind is stored with a knowledge of the 
great and fundamental truths of nature, and of the laws 
of her operations ; and who, no stunted ascetic, is full of 
life and fire, but whose passions are trained to come to 
heel by a vigorous will, the servant of a tender con- 
science ; who has learned to love all beauty whether of 
nature or of art, to hate all vileness, and to respect 
others as himself." — Thomas H. Huxley. 

I. ITS NATURE 

1. Education is the equable and harmonious development of the 

whole man. — Stein. 

2. A complete education increases the pupil's bodily health and 

strength ; gives him command over his powers of mind and 
body ; quickens his faculty of observation ; forms in him 
prompt and accurate judgment ; leads to delicacy and depth 



104 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

in every right feeling ; makes liim steadfast in his devotion 
to every duty. Every branch of education will increase his 
knowledge and his skill ; will be an object of thought and 
action ; will add to his capacity to know and his ability to 
do. — Thomas Hill. 

3. No system of education is complete till it concerns itself for the 

entire body and all the parts of human life — a character high, 
erect, broad-shouldered, symmetrical, swift ; not the mind, as 
I said, but the man. Our familiar phrase, " whole-souled," 
expresses the aim of learning as well as any. You want to 
rear men fit and ready for all spots and crises, prompt and 
busy in affairs, gentle among little children, self-reliant in 
danger, genial in company, sharp in a jury box, tenacious at 
a town meeting, unseducible in a crowd, tender at a sick-bed, 
not likely to jump into the first boat at a shipwreck, affection- 
ate and respectable at home, obliging in a traveling party, 
shrewd and just in the market, reverent and punctual at the 
church ; . . • brave in action, patient in suffering, believing 
and cheerful everywhere, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. 
This is the manhood that our age and country are asking of 
its educators, — well-built and vital, manifold and harmonious, 
full of faith. — Frederick D. Huntington. 

4. The purpose of education is to give to the body and to the soul 

all the beauty and all the perfection of which they are capa- 
ble. — Plato. 

5. Education is the endeavor to liberate the ideal human being 

that lies concealed in every child. — Richter. 

6. Every child is a thought of God's. The business of education 

is to condition that thought for fullest, freest utterance. — 
Emerson. 

7. We have to educate, not a soul nor yet a body, but a man, and 

we cannot divide him. — Montaigne. 

8. The whole boy comes to school, and we teach only a part of 

him. — Parker. 

9. Education is a preparation for complete living. — Spencer. 

10. Education is a preparation of the individual for reciprocal union 

with society. — Dr. W. T. Harris. 

11. A complete and generous education fits a man to perform justly, 

skillfully, and magnanimously all the offices, both public and 
private, of peace and war. — Milton. 



RIGHT VIEWS OF EDUCATION 105 

12. The final aim of education is character. The worth of a man 

consists not in what he knows, but in how he wills. — 
Herbart. 

13. What a man has learned is of importance, but what he is, what 

he can do, what he will become, are significant things. — 
Helps. 

14. A child's mind cannot be made to order. Its powers cannot be 

imparted by the schoolmaster. It is not a receptacle to be 
filled with knowledge, and built up after the teacher's ideal. — 
Spencer. 

15. Education can only unfold and develop the endowments of 

birth. It cannot create anything new. — Rosenkranz. 

16. Education is not stuffing the memory with words and leaving 

the understanding and the conscience void. — Montaigne. 

17. Education does not mean teaching people to know what they do 

not know. It means teaching them to behave as they do not 
behave. It is not teaching the young the shapes of letters 
and the tricks of numbers, and then leaving them to turn 
their arithmetic into roguery, and their literature into lust. 
It is, on the contrary, training them into the perfect exercise 
and kingly continence of their bodies and their souls. It is 
a painful, continual, difficult work, to be done by kindness, 
by watching, by warning, by precept, and by praise, but above 
all — by example. — Ruskin. 

II. MEANS 

1. The primary principle of education is to arouse the child to 

self-activity. — Hamilton. 

2. Every man who is educated at all, is and must be, self-educated. 

— Hopkins. 

3. It is what the child does for himself and by himself, under wise 

guidance, that educates him. — Swett. 

4. All learning is self-teaching. The great business of the teacher 

is to teach the child to teach himself. — Payne. 

5. A man is almost educated when he has learned how to learn. 

6. The mind develops by mysterious contact of spirit with spirit ; 

thought kindling at a fire of living thought. — Carlyle. 

7. The understanding is not a vessel which is to be filled, but fire- 

wood which needs to be kindled ; and love of learning and 
love of truth are what should kindle it. — Plutarch. 



I06 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

8. Education is training, not telling. — Horace Mann. 

9. A child's mind grows like his body, by being nourished, not by 

being stretched on a rack. — Comenius. 

10. In education the process of self-development should be en- 

couraged to the fullest extent. Children should be led to 
make their own investigations, and to draw their own infer- 
ences. They should be told as little as possible, and induced 
to discover as much as possible. Humanity has progressed 
solely by self-instruction ; and that to achieve the best results, 
each mind must progress somewhat after the same fashion, is 
continually proved by the marked success of self-made men. 
Those who have been brought up under the ordinary school 
drill, and have carried away with them the idea that education 
is practicable only in that style, will think it hopeless to make 
children their own teachers. — Spencer. 

11. He only can teach who looks down upon the elements of his 

department, from the heights of broad and solid attainment. 
Moreover, whatever his knowledge may be, he cannot teach 
with vigor after he ceases to be a daily learner. He must 
keep the machinery of his own mind hot with action, if he 
would excite activity in the minds of his students. Example 
is better than precept, inspiration is better than instruction. 
... It is not enough that a teacher be learned ; he must be 
earnest, must love his work, and love young men ; he must 
enter into an unfeigned sympathy with them in their mental 
and moral life ; he must pour out upon them the results of his 
reading, his thought, and experience, with unsparing prodi- 
gality, forgetful of himself and his own reputation ; even 
willing, like a true mother, to give up his own mental being 
if he can only see the life of other souls springing into power 
under his hand. — Martin B. Anderson. 

III. IMPORTANCE 

1. What a man is he owes to his education. The man who has 

not been disciplined is a savage. — Kant. 

2. A man has to be educated in order to become a man. 

— Comenius. 

3. It is education that makes thinking men of two-footed animals. 

— Locke. 



RIGHT VIEWS OF EDUCATION lO/ 

4. We are born weak and stand in need of assistance ; we are 

born ignorant and stand in need of knowledge ; we are born 
stupid and stand in need of understanding. Wliat we lack 
at birth and need when grown is conferred on us by educa- 
tion. — Rousseau. 

5. A child were better unborn than untaught. — Gascoigne. 

6. The great problem in education is to reconcile liberty with the 

necessity of constraint. — Kant. 

7. A disobedient boy is the most savage of all wild beasts. — 

Plato. 

8. What you want in the life of the nation to-morrow, put into the 

schools to-day. 

9. Republican institutions furnish as great facihties for wicked 

men in all departments of wickedness as phosphorus and 
lucifer matches furnish to the incendiary. — Horace Mann. 

10. Scholarship without character is a bane and not a boon. — 

Page. 

11. A boy were better untaught than unprincipled. — Montaigne. 

IV. WARNING 

1 . The masters of education hold in their hands the future of the 

world. — Leibniz. 

2. Next to creating a human soul, the divinest thing in the universe 

is educating it aright. — Plato. 

.3. To fashion a soul is a fine art and a perilous undertaking. — 
Marion. 

4. The whole period of youth is one essentially of formation, edi- 
fication, instruction, — I use the words with their weight in 
them, — in-taking of stores, establishment in vital habits, 
hopes, and faiths. There is not an hour of it but is trembling 
with destinies, — not a moment of which, once past, the ap- 
pointed work can ever be done again, or the neglected blow 
ever struck on the cold iron. Take your Venetian vase out 
of the furnace, and strew chaff over it in its transparent heat 
and recover that to its clearness and rubied glory when the 
north wind has blown on it ; but do not think to strew chaff 
over the child fresh from God's presence, and bring the 
heavenly colors back to him — at least not in this world. — 
Ruskin. 



I08 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

TOPICAL OUTLINE 

I. Ideals. 

1. Sculpturing with an ideal in mind. 

2. Sculpturing without an ideal. 

3. The two compared. 

4. The artist and the tme teacher compared. 

5. The danger of teaching without forethought. 

6. Emerson's argument for special preparation for teaching. 
II. False Vieius of Education. 

1. Education is merely the imparting of knowledge. 

2. It is carrying pupils through certain studies. 

3. It is a cultivation of the intellect to the neglect of morals. 

4. It is stuffing the memory with a knowledge of books. 

5. It considers knowledge the end of education. 

[The student should extend this list independently.] 

III. Just Views of Education. 

1. How obtained. 

2. Education is development ; discipline of mind as well as 

instruction ; assimilation as well as accumulation of 
knowledge ; a waking-up and not a going-to-sleep pro- 
cess. It is arousing a pupil to a desire for education, 
and teaching him to educate himself; it is arousing a 
child to think without thinking for it ; it is a calling 
forth of all the powers of the child into harmonious 
action ; it is not acquisition so much as discipline in 
the act of acquisition ; it is simultaneous cultivation of 
the whole childhood, heart and hand — taste, con- 
science, and will, by appropriate exercises ; it concerns 
doing and being as well as knowing. 

3. Fox's view of education. 

IV. Egregious Mistakes. 

1. Esteeming scholarship as something better than an 

abiding love of learning. 

2. Overvaluing pupils with good memories. 

3. Setting the reciters above the thinkers. 

4. Underestimating the dullards. 

5. Overstimulation of the sensitive and ambitious pupils. 

6. Allowing pupils to exhaust vitality in study. 

[The student should extend this list independently.] 



RIGHT VIEWS OF EDUCATION lOQ 

SUBJECTS FOR DISCUSSION OR ESSAYS 

False Views of Education. 

Chubb^s Essays of Montaigne, pp. 7-24. 
What Education rightly is. 

Morgan's Studies in Pedagogy, Chap. I. 

Putnam's Manual of Pedagogics, Chap. I. 

Arnold's Way marks for Teachers, pp. 9- 11. 

Morgan's Educational Mosaics, pp. 119, 135, 146. 

Hoose's On the Province of Methods of Teaching, Chap. II. 
Dunces and Dawdlers. 

Smiles's Life and Labors, Chap. IV. 
The Artist's Material and the Teacher's. 

Morgan's Studies in Pedagogy, p. 269. 
Information and Education. 

Hufiford's Selections from Ruskin, p. 438. 

Morgan's Studies in Pedagogy, p. 12. 
What becomes of First Honor Students ? 

Thwing's American Colleges, Chap. X. 
Scholarship and Character. 

Smiles's Character, Chap. L 

Morgan's Studies in Pedagogy, pp. 343-348. 

Todd's Student's Manual, Chap. IX. 

Morgan's Educational Mosaics, p. 135. 



CHAPTER VII 
RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING 

"Teaching is determining the learner to self-activity." — Sir 
William Hamilton. 

''All the best cultivation of a child's mind is obtained by the 
child's own exertions, and the master's success may be measured by 
the degree in which he can bring his scholar to make such exertions 
absolutely without aid." — Dr. Temple. 

" The main business of the teacher is to get the pupil to teach 
himself." — Joseph Payne. 

From what has been said of education, it is very obvi- 
ous that it is no small thing to be a successful teacher. 
It is admitted by all that the teacher should be apt to 
teach. He cannot be useful without this. He may 
have an unimpeachable character ; he may have the 
most liberal and thorough literary acquirements ; he may 
deeply feel his responsibility, and yet after all he may 
fail to teach successfully. 

Aptness to teach has been said to be a native endow- 
ment, a sort of instinct, and therefore incapable of being 
improved by experience or instruction, — an instinct such 
as that which guides the robin, though hatched in an 
oven, to build a perfect nest like that of its parent, with- 
out ever having seen one. I am of the opinion that such 
instincts in men are rare ; but that aptness to teach, like 
aptness to do anything else, is usually an acquired power, 
based upon a correct knowledge of what is to be done 
and some accurate estimate of the fitness of the means 



RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING m 

used for the end. If there are exceptions to this, they 
are very uncommon ; and the safer way, therefore, for 
the majority of teachers, is to study carefully the ra- 
tionale of their processes, and to rely rather upon sound 
and philosophical principles in their teaching, than upon 
a very doubtful intuition. 

One of the most common errors into which young 
teachers fall (and some old ones too), is that of mis- 
judging of the degree of assistance which the young 
scholar needs in the pursuit of learning. There are a 
few who forget the difficulties which impeded their own 
perception of new truths when learners, and therefore 
have no sympathy with the perplexities which surround 
the children under their charge when they encounter 
like difficulties. They refuse to lend a helping hand, 
even where it is needed, and by making light of the 
child's doubts, perhaps sneering at his unsuccessful 
struggles, they dishearten him so far that imaginary 
obstacles become insurmountable, and he gives up in 
despair. But a far more numerous class tend toward 
the other extreme. From a mistaken kindness, or a 
mistaken estimate of the child's ability, or both, they 
are disposed to do quite too much for him, and thus 
they diminish his power to help himself. The child 
that is constantly dandled upon the lap of its nurse, and 
borne in her arms to whatever point it may desire to 
go, does not soon learn to walk ; and when it at length 
makes the attempt, it moves not with the firm tread of 
him who was early taught to use his own limbs. There 
is a great deal of literary dandling practiced in our 
schools ; and as a consequence, a great many of our 
children are mere sickly nurslings, relying upon lead- 
ing strings while in the school, and falling, for very 



112 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

weakness, just as soon as the supporting hand is with- 
drawn. This evil is so common, and in some instances 
so monstrous,^ that I shall be pardoned if I dwell upon 
it a little more fully. 

In illustrating this subject, I must mention two pro- 
cesses of teaching, not indeed exactly opposite to each 
other, though widely different, — into one or both of 
which many of our teachers are very liable to fall. I 
shall, for the sake of a name, designate the former as 
the 

SECTION I. — POURING-IN PROCESS 

This consists in lecturing to a class of children upon 
every subject which occurs to the teacher, it being his 
chief aim to bring before them as many facts in a 
limited time as possible. It is as if he should provide 
himself with a basket of sweetmeats, and every time he 
should come within reach of a child, should seize him, 
and compel him to swallow — regardless of the condi- 
tion of his stomach — whatever trash he should happen 
first to force into his mouth. Children are indeed fond 
of sweetmeats, but they do not like to have them admin- 
istered^ — and every physiologist knows there is such a 
thing as eating enough even of an agreeable thing to 
make one sick, and thus produce loathing forever after. 
Now many teachers are just such misguided caterers 
for the mind. They are ready to seize upon the victims 

^ Not long since I visited a school, where the teacher with much self- 
complacency requested me to examine the writing of the children. It 
was indeed very fair. But when I drew from him the fact that he first 
wrote each page himself with a lead pencil, and only required his scholars 
to black his marks over with ink, and that with unremitting labor he did 
this week after week for all the writers in his school, I knew not which 
most to wonder at, the docility of the children or the weakness of the 
teacher. The writing ceased to be wonderful. 



RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING II3 

of their kindness, force open their mental gullets, and 
pour in, without mercy and without discretion, what- 
ever sweet thing they may have at hand, even though 
they surfeit and nauseate the poor sufferer. The mind, 
by this process, becomes a mere passive recipient, taking 
in without much resistance whatever is presented till it 
is full. 

"A passive recipient! " said one to his friend, "what 
is 2, passive recipient?'' "A passive recipient," re- 
plied his friend, " is a tivo-gallon jug. It holds just 
two gallons, and as it is made of potters' ware, it can 
never hold but just two gallons." This is not an unfit 
illustration of what I mean by making the mind a 
passive recipient. Whenever the teacher does not first 
excite inquiry, first prepare the mind by ivaking it up to 
a desire to know, and if possible to find out by itself, 
but proceeds to think /<?r the child, and to give him the 
results, before they are desired, or before they have 
been sought for, — he makes the mind of the child a 
tzvo-gallon J7ig, into which he may pour just tzvo gallons, 
but no more. And if day after day he should continue 
to pour in, day after day he may expect that what he 
pours in will all run over. The mind, so far as reten- 
tion is concerned, will act like the jug ; that is, a part of 
what is poured in to-day will be diluted by a part of 
that which is forced in to-morrow, and that again will 
be partially displaced and partially mingled with the 
next day's pouring, till at length there will be nothing 
characteristic left. But aside from retention, there is a 
great difference between the jug and the mind. The 
former is inert material, and may be as good a jug after 
such use as before. But the mind suffers by every 
unsuccessful effort to retain. 

B.-P. THE. & PR. TEACHING — 8 



114 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

This process of lecturing children into imbecility is 
altogether too frequently practiced ; and it is to be 
hoped that intelligent teachers will pause and inquire 
before they pursue it further. 

The other process to which I wish to call attention, 
is that which, for the sake of distinguishing it from the 
first, I shall denominate the 

SECTION II. DRAWING-OUT PROCESS 

This consists in asking what the lawyers call lead- 
ing questions. It is practiced, usually, whenever the 
teacher desires to help along the pupil. '' John," says 
the teacher when conducting a recitation in long 
division, *' John, what is the number to be divided 
called.''" John hesitates. ''Is it the dividend .''" says 
the teacher. "Yes, sir — the dividend." "Well, John, 
what is that which is left after dividing called } — the re- 
mainder — is it 1 " " Yes, sir." A visitor now enters the 
room, and the teacher desires to show off John's talents. 
"Well, John, of what denomination is the remainder .? " 

John looks upon the floor. 

" Isn't it always the same as the dividend, John "l " 

"Yes, sir." 

" Very well, John," says the teacher soothingly, " what 
denomination is this dividend } " pointing to the work 
upon the board. " Dollars, is it not } " 

"Yes, sir; dollars." 

"Very well; now what is this remainder?" 

John hesitates. 

"Why dollars too, isn't it.? " says the teacher. 

" Oh yes, sir, dollars ! " says John, energetically, 
while the teacher complacently looks at the visitor to 
see if he has noticed how correctly John has answered ! 



RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING 1 15 

A class is called to be examined in history. They 
have committed the text-book to memory, that is, they 
have learned the words. They go on finely for a time. 
At length one hesitates. The teacher adroitly asks a 
question in the language of the text. Thus : *' Early in 
the morning, on the nth of September, what did the 
whole British army do .? " The pupil, thus timely re- 
assured, proceeds : " Early in the morning, on the i ith 
of September, the whole British army, drawn up in 
two divisions, commenced the expected assault." Here 
again she pauses. The teacher proceeds to inquire : 
"Well, — 'Agreeably to the plan of Howe, the right 
wing' did what.'* " 

Pupil. — " Agreeably to the plan of Howe, the right 
wing — " 

Teacher. — '' The right wing commanded by whom } " 

Pupil. — " Oh ! * Agreeably to the plan of Howe, the 
right wing, commanded by Knyphausen, made a feint of 
crossing the Brandywine at Chad's Ford,' " etc. 

This is a very common way of helping a dull pupil 
out of a difficulty ; and I have seen it done so adroitly, 
that a company of visitors would agree that it was 
wonderful to see how thoroughly the children had 
been instructed! 

I may further illustrate this drazving-out process, by 
describing an occurrence, which, in company with a 
friend and fellow-laborer, I once witnessed. A teacher, 
whose school we visited, called upon the class in Col- 
burn's First Lessons. They rose, and in single file 
marched to the usual place, with their books in hand, 
and stood erect. It was a very good-looking class. 

"Where do you begin } " said the teacher, taking the 
book. 



Il6 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

Pupils. — On the 84th page, 3d question. 

Teacher. — Read it, Charles. 

Charles. — {Reads.) ''A man being asked how many 
sheep he had, said that he had them in two pastures ; 
in one pasture he had eight ; that three fourths of 
these vv^ere just one third of what he had in the other. 
How many were there in the other 1 " 

Teacher. — Well, Charles, you must first get one 
fourth of eight, must you not t 

Charles. — Yes, sir. 

Teacher. — Well, one fourth of eight is two, isn't it t 

CJiarles. — Yes, sir ; one fourth of eight is two. 

Teacher. — Well, then, three fourths will be three 
times two, won't it .^ 

Charles. — Yes, sir. 

Teacher. — Well, three times two are six, eh ? 

Charles. — Yes, sir. 

Teacher. — Very well. (A pause.) Now the book 
says that this six is just one third of what he had in the 
other pasture, don't it .'* 

Charles. — Yes, sir. 

Teacher. — Then if six is one third, three thirds will 
be — three times six, won't it } 

Charles. — Yes, sir. 

Teacher. — And three times six are — eighteen, 
ain't it ? 

Charles. — Yes, sir ! 

Teacher. — Then he had eighteen sheep in the other 
pasture, had he } 

Charles. — Yes, sir ! 

Teacher. — Next, take the next one. 

At this point I interposed, and asked the teacher if 
he would request Charles to go through it alone. '' Oh, 



RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING n/ 

yes," said the teacher; ''Charles, you may do it again." 
Charles again read the question, and — looked up. 
"Well," said the teacher, "you must first get one 
fourth of eight, mustn't you } " '' Yes, sir." "■ And 
one fourth of eight is two, isn't it.? " ''Yes, sir." And 
so the process went on as before till the final eighteen 
sheep were drazvn out as before. The teacher now 
looked round, with an air which seemed to say, " Now I 
suppose you are satisfied." 

" Shall / ask Charles to do it again } " said I. The 
teacher assented. Charles again read the question, 
and again — looked up. I waited, and he waited ; — but 
the teacher could not wait. "Why, Charles," said he, 
impatiently ; "you want one fourth of eight, don't you } " 
" Yes, sir," said Charles, promptly ; and I thought best 
not to insist further at this time upon a repetition of 
''yes, sir,'' and the class were allowed to proceed in 
their own way. 

This is, indeed, an extreme case, and yet it is but a 
fair sample of that teacher's method of stupefying mind. 
This habit of assisting the pupil to some extent, is, how- 
ever, a very common one, and as deleterious to mind 
as it is common. The teacher should at once abandon 
this practice, and require the scholar to do the talking at 
recitation. I need hardly suggest that such a course of 
extraction at recitation, aside from the waste of time by 
both parties, and the waste of strength by the teacher, 
has a direct tendency to make the scholar miserably 
superficial. For why should he study, if he knows from 
constant experience that the teacher, by a leading ques- 
tion, will relieve him from all embarrassment.? It has 
often been remarked, that " the teacher makes the 
school." Perhaps in no way can he more effectually 



Il8 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

make an inefficient school, than by this di-awing-out 
process. 

I look upon the two processes just described, as very 
prominent and prevalent faults in our modern teaching; 
and if by describing them thus fully, I shall induce any 
to set a guard upon their practice in this particular, I 
shall feel amply rewarded. 

SECTION III. THE MORE EXCELLENT WAY 

It is always a very difficult question for the teacher to 
settle, ''How far shall I help the pupil, and how far shall 
the pupil be required to help himself?" The teaching 
of nature would seem to indicate that the pupil should 
be taught mainly to depend on his own resources. This, 
too, I think is the teaching of common sense. Whatever 
is learned should be so thoroughly learned, that the next 
and higher step may be comparatively easy. And the 
teacher should always inquire, when he is about to dis- 
miss one subject, whether the class understand it so well 
that they can go on to the next. He may, indeed, some- 
times give a word of suggestion during the preparation 
of a lesson, and, by a seasonable hint, save the scholar 
the needless loss of much time. But it is a very great 
evil if the pupils acquire the habit of running to the 
teacher as soon as a slight difficulty presents itself, to 
request him to remove it. Some teachers, when this 
happens, will send the scholar to his seat with a reproof 
perhaps, while others, with a mistaken kindness, will 
answer the question or solve the problem themselves, 
as the shortest way to get rid of it. Both these courses 
are, in general, wrong. The inquirer should never be 
frowned upon; this may discourage him. He should 
not be relieved from labor, as this will diminish his self- 



RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING 1 19 

reliance without enlightening him ; for whatever is done 
for a scholar without his having studied closely upon it 
himself, makes but a feeble impression upon him, and 
is soon forgotten. The true way is, neither to discour- 
age inquiry nor answer the question. Converse with 
the scholar a little as to the principles involved in the 
question ; refer him to principles which he has before 
learned, or has now lost sight of ; perhaps call his 
attention to some rule or explanation before given to 
the class; go just so far as to enlighten him a little, 
and//// ///';;/ 07i the scent, then leave him to achieve the 
victory himself. There is a great satisfaction in discov- 
ering a dii^cult thing for oneself, — and the teacher 
does the scholar a lasting injury who takes this pleasure 
from him. The teacher should be simply suggestive, 
but should never take the glory of a victory from the 
scholar by doing his work for him, at least not until he 
has given it a thorough trial himself. 

The skill of the teacher, then, will be best manifested, 
if he can contrive to awaken such a spirit in the pupil, 
that he shall be very unwilling to be assisted ; if he can 
kindle up such a zeal, that the pupil will prefer to try 
again and again before he will consent that the teacher 
shall interpose. I shall never forget a class of boys, 
some fourteen or fifteen years of age, who in the study 
of algebra had imbibed this spirit. A difficult question 
had been before the class a day or two, when I sug- 
gested giving them some assistance. ''Not to-day, sir,'' 
was the spontaneous exclamation of nearly every one. 
Nor shall I forget the expression that beamed from 
the countenance of one of them, when, elated with his 
success, he forgot the proprieties of the school and 
audibly exclaimed, " Fve got it I I've got it ! " It was 



I20 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

a great day for him ; he felt, as he never before had 
felt, his ov/n might. Nor was it less gratifying to me 
to find that his fellows were still unwilling to know his 
method' of solution. The next day a large number 
brought a solution of their own, each showing evidence 
of originality. A class having once attained to a feel- 
ing like this, will go on to educate themselves, when 
they shall have left the school and the living teacher. 

As to the communication of knowledge, aside from 
that immediately connected with school studies, there 
is a more excellent way than that of pouring it in by 
the process already described. It is but just that I 
should give a specimen of the method of doing this. I 
shall now proceed to do so, under the head of 

SECTION IV. — WAKING UP MIND 

The teacher of any experience knows that if he will 
excite a deep and profitable interest in his school, he 
must teach many things besides book studies. In our 
common schools, there will always be a company of 
small children, who, not yet having learned to read 
understandingly, will have no means of interesting 
themselves, and must depend mainly upon the teacher 
for the interest they take in the school. This to them 
is perhaps the most critical period of their lives. What- 
ever impression is now made upon them will be endur- 
ing. If there they become disgusted with the dullness 
and confinement of school, and associate the idea of 
pain and repulsiveness with that of learning, who can 
describe the injury done to their minds .? If, on the 
other hand, the teacher is really skillful, and excites in 
them a spirit of inquiry, and leads them in suitable 
ways to observe, to think, and to feel that the school is 



RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING 121 

a happy place even for children, it is one great point 
gained. 

I may suggest here, then, that it would be well to 
set apart a few minutes once a day for a general exer- 
cise in the school, when it should be required of all to 
lay by their studies, assume an erect attitude, and give 
their undivided attention to whatever the teacher may 
bring before them. Such a course would have its 
physiological advantages. It would relieve the minds 
of all for a few minutes. The erect attitude is a health- 
ful one. It would also serve as a short respite from 
duty, and thus refresh the older scholars for study. I 
may further add, that, for the benefit of these small 
children, every general exercise should be conducted 
with reference to tJieni, and such topics should be in- 
troduced as they can understand. 

It is the purpose of the following remarks to give a 
specimen of the manner of conducting such exercises, 
for a few days, with reference to ivaking tip mind in the 
school and also in the district. 

Let us suppose that the teacher has promised that 
on the next day, at ten minutes past ten o'clock, he 
shall request the whole school to give their attention five 
minutes, while he shall bring something there to which 
he shall call the attention, especially of the little boys 
and girls under seven years of age. This very an- 
nouncement will excite an interest both in school and 
at home ; and \vhen the children come in the morning, 
they will be more wakeful than usual till the fixed time 
arrives. It is very important that this time should be 
fixed, and that the utmost punctuality should be ob- 
served, both as to the beginning and ending of the 
exercise at the precise time. 



122 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

The teacher, it should be supposed, has not made 
such an announcement without considering what he can 
do when the time arrives. He should have a well- 
digested plan of operation, and one which he knows 
beforehand that he can successfully execute. 

Let us suppose that in preparing for this exercise he 
looks about him to find some object which he can make 
his text ; and that he finds upon his study table an ear 
of corn. He thinks carefully what he can do with it, 
and then with a smile of satisfaction- he puts it in his 
pocket for the " general exercise." 

In the morning he goes through the accustomed duties 
of the first hour, perhaps more cheerfully than usual, be- 
cause he finds there is more of animation and wakeful- 
ness in the school. At the precise time, he gives the 
signal agreed upon, and all the pupils drop their studies 
and sit erect. When there is perfect silence and strict 
attention by all, he takes from his pocket the ear of 
corn, and in silence holds it up before the school. The 
children smile, for it is a familiar object ; and they prob- 
ably did not suspect they were to be fed with corn. 

Teacher. — '' Now, children," addressing himself to 
the youngest, '' I am going to ask you only one question 
to-day about this ear of corn. If you can answer it I 
shall be very glad ; if the little boys and girls upon the 
front seat cannot give the answer, I will let those in 
the next seat try ; and so on till all have tried, unless 
our time should expire before the right answer is given. 
I shall not be surprised if none of you give the answer 
I am thinking of. As soon as I ask the question, those 
who are under seven years old, that think they can give 
an answer, may raise their hand. What is this ear 

OF CORN FOR?" 



RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING - 1 23 

Several of the children raise their hands, and the 
teacher points to one after another in order, and they 
rise and give their answers. 

3Iary. — It is to feed the geese with. 

JoJiri. — Yes, and the hens too, and the pigs. 

SaraJi. — My father gives corn to the cows. 

By this time the hands of the youngest scholars are 
all down, for having been taken a little by surprise, 
their knowledge is exhausted. So the teacher says that 
those between seven and ten years of age may raise 
their hands. Several instantly appear. The teacher 
again indicates, by pointing, those who may give the 
answer. 

Charles. — My father gives corn to the horses when 
the oats are all gone. 

Daniel. — We give it to the oxen and cows, and we 
fat the hogs upon corn. 

Laura. — It is good to eat. They shell it from the 
cobs and send it to mill, and it is ground into meal. 
They make bread of the meal, and we eat it. 

This last pupil has looked a little further into domestic 
economy than those who answered before her. But by 
this time, perhaps before, the five minutes have been 
nearly expended, and yet several hands are up, and the 
faces of several are beaming with eagerness to tell their 
thoughts. Let the teacher then say, '* We will have no 
more answers to-day. You may think of this matter 
till to-morrow, and then I will let you try again. I am 
sorry to tell you that none of you have mentioned the 
use I was thinking of, though I confess I expected it 
every minute. I shall not be surprised if no one of you 
gives this answer to-morrow. I shall now put the ear of 
corn in my desk, and no one of you must speak to me 



124 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

about it till to-morrow. You may now take your 
studies." 

The children now breathe more freely, while the 
older ones take their studies, and the next class is 
called. In order to success, it is absolutely necessary 
that the teacher should positively refuse to hold any 
conversation with the children on the subject till the 
next time for '' general exercise." 

During the remainder of the forenoon the teacher 
will very likely observe some signs of thoughtfulness 
on the part of those little children who have been 
habitually dull before. And perhaps some child, eager 
to impart a new discovery, will seek an opportunity to 
make it known during the forenoon. "Wait till to- 
morrow," should be the teacher's only reply. 

Now let us follow these children as they are dismissed 
while they bend their steps toward home. They cluster 
together in groups as they go down the hill, and they 
seem to be earnestly engaged in conversation. 

" I don't believe it has any other use," says John. 

"Oh, yes, it has," says Susan; "our teacher would 
not say so if it had not. Besides, did you not see what 
a knowing look he had, when he drew up his brow and 
said he guessed we couldn't find it out } " 

"Well, I mean to ask my mother," says little Mary; 
" I guess she can tell." 

By and by as they pass a field of corn, Samuel sees 
a squirrel running across the street, with both his 
cheeks distended with '^ plimderr 

At home, too, the ear of corn is made the subject of 
conversation. " What is an ear of corn for, mother .'' " 
says little Mary, as soon as they have taken a seat at 
the dinner table. 



RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING 125 

Mother. — An ear of corn, child? why, don't you 
know ? It is to feed the fowls, and the pigs, and the 
cattle ; and we make bread of it too — 

Mary. — Yes, we told all that, but the teacher says 
that is not all. 

Mother. — The teacher ? 

Mary. — Yes, ma'am, the teacher had an ear of corn 
at school, and he asked us what it was for ; and after 
we had told him everything we could think of, he said 
there was another thing still. Now, I want to find out, 
so that / can tell him. 

The consequence of this would be that the family, 
father, mother, and older brothers and sisters, would 
resolve themselves into a committee of the whole on 
the ear of corn. The same, or something like this, 
would be true in other families in the district ; and by 
the next morning, several children would have some- 
thing further to communicate on the subject. The 
hour would this day be awaited with great interest, and 
the first signal would produce perfect silence. 

The teacher now takes the ear of corn from the desk 
and displays it before the school ; and quite a number 
of hands are instantly raised as if eager to be the first 
to tell what other use they have discovered for it. 

The teacher now says pleasantly : " The use I am 
thinking of, you have all observed, I have no doubt ; it 
is a very important use indeed ; but as it is a little out 
of the common course, I shall not be surprised if you 
cannot give it. However, you may try." 

" It is good to boil ! " ^ says little Susan, almost spring- 
ing from the floor as she speaks. 

1 The children themselves will be sure to find some new answers to 
such questions as the above. In giving in substance this lecture to a 



126 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

"And it is for squirrels to eat," says little Samuel. 
** I saw one carry away a whole mouthful yesterday 
from the cornfield." 

Others still mention other uses, which they have 
observed. They mention other animals which feed 
upon it, or other modes of cooking it. The older 
pupils begin to be interested, and they add to the Hst 
of uses named. Perhaps, however, none will name the 
one the teacher has in his own mind ; he should cor- 
dially welcome the answer if perchance it is given ; if 
none should give it, he may do as he thinks best about 
giving it himself on this occasion. Perhaps, if there is 
time he may do so, — after the following manner. 

*' I have told you that the answer I was seeking was 
a very simple one ; it is something you have all ob- 
served, and you may be a little disappointed when I tell 
you. The use I have been thinking of for the ear of 
corn is this : It is to plant. It is for seed, to propa- 
gate that species of plant called corn." Here the chil- 
dren may look disappointed, as much as to say, ''We 
knew that before." 

gathering of teachers in the autumn of 1845, i^ ^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^7 villages 
of New York, where also the pupils of one of the district schools were 
present by invitation, I had described a process similar to that which has 
been dwelt upon above. I had given the supposed answers for the first 
day, and had described the children as pressing the question at home. 
When I had proceeded as far as to take up the ear of corn the second 
day, and had spoken of the possibility that the true answer to the question 
might not be given, I turned almost instinctively to the class of children 
at my right, saying, " Now what is the ear of corn for ? " A little boy, 
some six years of age, who had swallowed every word, and whose face 
glowed as if there was not room enough for his soul within him, bounded 
upon his feet, and forgetting the pubhcity of the place and the gravity of 
the chairman of the meeting, clapping his hands forcibly together, " Ifs to 
pop ! " he exclaimed emphatically, very much to the amusement of the 
audience. His mind had been waked up. 



RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING \2J 

The teacher continues : ** And this is a very impor- 
tant use for the corn ; for if for one year none should 
be planted, and all the ears that grew the year before 
should be consumed, we should have no more corn. 
This, then, was the great primary design of the corn; 
the other uses you have named were merely secondary. 
But I mean to make something more of my ear of 
corn. My next question is : Do other plants have 
SEEDS .? " 1 

Here is a new field of inquiry. Many hands are 
instantly raised ; but as the five minutes by this time 
have passed, leave them to answer at the next time. 

'^ Have otJier plants seeds ?" the children begin to 
inquire in their own minds, and each begins to think 
over a list of such plants as he is familiar with. When 
they are dismissed, they look on the way home at the 
plants by the roadside, and when they reach home, 
they run to the garden. At the table they inquire of 
their parents, or their brothers and sisters. 

At the next exercise, they will have more than they 
can tell in five minutes as the results of their own obser- 
vation and research. When enough has been said by 
the children as to the plants which have seeds, the 
next question may be : Do all plants have seeds ? 
This question will lead to much inquiry at home wher- 
ever botany is not well understood. There are many 
who are not aware that all plants have seeds. Very 
likely the ferns (common brakes) will be noticed by the 
children themselves. They may also name several 
other plants which do not exhibit their apparatus for 
seed-bearing very conspicuously. This will prepare the 
way for the teacher to impart a little information. Nor 

1 Plant is here used in the popular sense. 



128 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

is there any harm in his doing so, whenever he is satis- 
fied that the mind has been suitably exercised. The 
mind is no longer a "passive recipient"; and he may 
be sure that by inquiry it has increased its capacity to 
contain, and any fact which now answers inquiry, will 
be most carefully stored up. 

The next question may be: Do trees have seeds.? 
As the children next go out, their eyes are directed to 
the trees above them. The fruit trees, the walnut, the 
oak, and perhaps the pine, will be selected as those 
which have seeds. They will, however, mention quite 
a number which do not, or which, they think, do not 
have seeds. Among these may be the elm, the birch, 
and the Lombardy poplar. After hearing their opin- 
ions, and the results of their observations, take one of 
their exceptions as the subject of the next question : 
Does the elm have seeds f ^ This will narrow their in- 
quiries down to a specific case, and every elm in the dis- 
trict will be inquired of as to its testimony on this point. 

If the children can any of them collect and give the 
truth in the matter, so much the better; but if they, 
after inquiring of their parents and grandparents, as I 
have known a whole school to do, come back insisting 
that the elm has no seeds ; after hearing their reasons 
for their belief, and perhaps the opinions of their parents, 
you may promise to tell them something about it at the 
next exercise. This will again awaken expectation, not 
only among the children, but among the parents. All 
will wish to know what you have to bring out. 

Great care should be taken not to throw any dispar- 

1 It is a very common opinion in the country that the elm has no seeds. 
I once knew a man who grew gray under the shade of a large elm, and 
who insisted that it never bore any seeds. 



RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING 



129 



agement upon the opinions of parents. Perhaps, after 
giving the signal for attention, you may proceed as 
follows : — 

" Has the elm tree any seeds ? Perhaps, children, you 
may recollect after the cold winter has passed away, 
that, along in the latter part of March, or the first of 
April, we sometimes have a warm, sunny day. The 
birds, perhaps, appear and begin to sing a little, and as 
you look up to the elm, you notice that its buds seem 
to swell, and you think it is going to put out its leaves. 
Everybody says we are going to have an early spring. 
But after this the cold frosty nights and windy days 
come on again, and then you think the leaves cannot 
come out so early. Now, if you observe carefully, the 
leaves do not come out till about the 20th of May, or 
perhaps the first of June. Did you ever see anything 
like what I have described.? " 

"Yes, sir, we remember that." 

*' Well, the next time you see the buds begin to open, 
just break off a twig of a good large tree, and you will 
find they are not the leaf buds. But if you will watch 
them carefully for two or three weeks, you will find 
that each bud will put out some beautiful little flowers, 
brightly colored, and slightly fragrant. If you will still 
continue to watch them, you will find, as the flowers 
fall off, that seed vessels are formed, shaped very much 
like the parsnip seed. These will grow larger and 
larger every day, and by and by they will turn brown 
and look as if they were ripe. Just about this time 
the leaves will come out ; and soon after these seeds, 
during some windy day or night, will all fall off. The 
ground will be covered with thousands of them. Per- 
haps you have seen this." 

B.-P. THE. & PR. TEACHING — 9 



130 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

"Yes, sir," says John, " Grandpa calls that elm ditst'' 

"Perhaps next year you can watch this and ask your 
parents to examine it with you. But the five minutes 
are ended." 

Now, information thus communicated will never be 
forgotten. The mind, having been put upon the stretch, 
is no longer 2^ passive recipient. 

The next question: How are seeds disseminated.? 
— (of course explaining the term '' disseminated''^ 

This will bring in a fund of information from the 
pupils. They will mention that the thistle seed Jiies^ 
and so does the seed of the milkweed ; that the burs of 
the burdock, and some other seeds are provided with 
hooks, by which they attach themselves to the hair of 
animals or the clothing of men, and ride away to their 
resting place, which may be a hundred miles off. Some 
fall into the water and sail away to another shore. 
Some, like the seed of the Touch-me-not, are thrown 
at a distance by the bursting of the elastic pericarp ; 
others, as nuts and acorns, are carried by squirrels 
and buried beneath the leaves. These facts would 
mostly be noticed by children, when once put upon 
observation. 

Next question : Are plants propagated in any other 
way than by seeds ? 

This question would call their attention to the various 
means of natural and artificial propagation — by layers, 
by offsets, by suckers, by grafting, by inoculation or 
budding, etc., etc. 

Again : Have any plants more ways than one of 
natural propagation f Some have one way only, — by 
seeds, as the annual plants; some have two, — by seeds, 
and by roots, as the potato ; some have three, — as the 



RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING 131 

tiger lily, by side bulbs from the roots, by stalk biclbs, 
and by the seeds. This can be extended indefinitely. 

SECTION V. REMARKS 

Let it be remembered that the above has been given 
simply as a specimen of what could easily be done by 
an ingenious teacher, with as common a thing as an ear 
of corn for the text. Any other thing would answer as 
well. A chip, a tooth or a bone of an animal, a piece 
of iron, a feather, or any other object, could be made 
the text for adroitly bringing in the uses of wood, the 
food and Jiabits of animals, the nse and comparative value 
of metals, the covering of birds, their migration, the cov- 
erijig of animals, etc., etc. Let the teacher but think 
what department he will dwell upon, and then he can 
easily select his text ; and if he has any tact, he can keep 
the children constantly upon inquiry and observation. 

The advantages of the above course over simply 
lecturing to them on certain subjects, that is, over the 
poiiring-in process, are many and great. Some of the 
most obvious I will briefly state. 

I. // immediately puts the minds of the children into 
a state of vigorous activity. They feel that they are no 
longer passive recipients. They are incited to discover 
and ascertain for themselves. They are, therefore, 
profitably employed both in and out of school, and as 
a consequence are more easily governed. A habit of 
observation is cultivated in them ; and what an advan- 
tage is this for a child ! It is almost unnecessary to 
remark that many people go through the world without 
seeing half the objects which are brought within their 
reach. It would be the same to them if their eyes were 
half the time closed. If they travel through a country 



132 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

presenting the most beautiful scenery or the most inter- 
esting geological features, they see nothing. They grow 
up among all the wonders of God's works, amid all the 
displays of his wisdom, of his design, to no purpose. 
They study none of the plans of nature ; and by all the 
millions of arrangements which God has made, to de- 
light the eye, to gratify the taste, to excite the emotions 
of pleasure instead of pain, they are neither the happier 
nor the wiser. What a blessing, then, it is to a child, 
to put his mind upon inquiry ; to open his eyes to ob- 
serve what his Creator intended his inteUigent creatures 
should behold, of his goodness, his wisdom, his power. 
And how far superior is he who teaches a child to see 
for himself and to think for himself, to him who sees 
and thinks /<?r the child, and thus practically invites the 
pupil to close his own eyes and grope in darkness through 
the instructive journey of life. 

2. It is of great service to the parents in the district to 
have this zvaking-np process in operatioit. Our children 
are sometimes our best teachers. Parents are apt to 
grow rusty in their acquirements, and it is no doubt 
one of the designs of providence that the inquisitiveness 
of childhood should preserve them from sinking into 
mental inactivity. Who can hear the inquiries of his 
own child after knowledge, without a desire to supply 
his wants } Now it is right for the teacher to use this 
instrumentality to wake up mind in his district. Parents, 
by the course I have recommended, very soon become 
interested in these daily questions of the teacher ; and 
they are often as eager to know what is the next qnes- 
tion as the children are to report it. This course, then, 
will supply profitable topics of conversation at the fire- 
side, and very likely will encourage also the pursuit of 



RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING 133 

useful reading. It will, moreover, soon awaken a deeper 
interest in the school on the part of the parents. They 
will begin to inquire of one another as to this new 
measure ; and when they find by conference that the 
feeling in this matter is becoming general, they will 
desire to visit the school to witness this as well as the 
other operations of the teacher. This will secure 
parental cooperation, and thus in every way the in- 
fluence of the school will be heightened. It is no small 
thing for a teacher to enlist the interest of his patrons 
in the success of his school ; and this is the most 
happily done, when it is achieved through the medium 
of the pupils themselves. 

3. // wakes itp the teacher s ozvn viind. This is by 
no means the least important point to be gained. The 
teacher, by the very nature of his employment, by daily 
confinement in an unhealthy atmosphere, by teaching 
over and over again that with which he is quite familiar, 
by boarding with people who are inclined to be social, 
and by the fatigue and languor with which he finds 
himself oppressed every night, is strongly tempted to 
neglect his own improvement. There are but few who 
rise above this accumulation of impediments and go on 
in spite of them to eminence in the profession. A large 
proportion of all who teach, rely upon the attainments 
with which they commence ; and in the course of two 
or three years, finding themselves behind the age, they 
abandon the employment. This is very natural. Any 
man who treads in a beaten track, like a horse in a 
mill, must become weary, however valuable the product 
may be which he grinds out. It is essential that he 
should keep his own interest awake by some exercise 
of his ingenuity, and that he should compel himself to 



134 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

be industrious by undertaking that which will absolutely 
demand study. The above process will do this ; and 
while he may have the exquisite pleasure of seeing the 
growth of his pupils' minds, he may also have the 
higher satisfaction of feelmg the growth of his own. 

I must here add, that it has not been my intention, 
in what I have said, to inculcate the idea that the study 
of books should in the least degree be abated to make 
room for this process of waking np mind. The various 
branches are to be pursued, and as diligently pursued, 
as ever before. The time to be set apart for this exer- 
cise should be short, — never probably to exceed five 
minutes. It is to come in when the scholars need rest 
for a moment, and when, if not employed about this, 
they would probably be doing nothing, or, perhaps, 
worse than nothing. It should be managed with care 
and should never be made a hobby by teachers, as if it 
were of more importance than anything else. One 
secret of success in this, — as, indeed, in everything, — 
is, that it should not be continued too long at once. 
The pupils should be left "longing — not loathing." 

Let me again remind the reader that I have given 
the above as a specimen. The choice of the ear of corn 
was merely accidental ; it happened to lie on my table 
when I wanted a text. The teacher should look upon 
this simply as a specimen, and then choose his own 
subjects. The main point aimed at is this : Never 
ask leading questions which your scholars can hardly 
fail to answer ; and never lectiwe to your pupils till you 
have somehow first kindled in them a living desire to 
know; that is, avoid alike the "drawing-out" and the 
"pouring-in" process. Rather let it be your object to 



RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING 1 35 

excite inquiry by a question they cannot answer without 
thought and observation, — and such a question as they 
would deem it disgraceful not to be able to answer. 
This adroitly done is " waking tip mindy 

TOPICAL OUTLINE 

Prefatory. 

1. Aptness to teach : how acquired. (See also pp. 138, 139.) 

2. Too little help and its effect upon pupils. 

3. Too much help and the effects. 
I. The Poiirmg-i)i Pi'ocess. 

1. Describe it. 

2. Illustrate it. 

3. The effects of it. 

4. The fundamental law of education it violates. 
II. The Drawing-oiit Process. 

1. Describe it. 

2. Illustrate it. 

3. The effects of it. 

4. How are these two processes alike? 

III. The More Excellent Way. 

1. The pupil must be aroused to self-activity and sturdy 

independence in study. 

2. He must master each lesson thoroughly. 

3. Give a seasonable hint, if the new lesson or subject re- 

quires it. 

4. Help the pupil by putting him on the scent with a sug- 

gestive question or two. 

5. Cultivate pride in self-help and joy in self-discovery. 

IV. Waking up Mind. 

(Specimen exercise upon an ear of corn.) 
I. The line of questioning. 

( 1 ) What is this ear of corn for ? 

(2) Do other plants have seeds? 

(3) Do all plants have seeds ? 

(4) Do trees have seeds? 

(5) Does the elm tree have seeds? 

(6) How are seeds disseminated? 

(7) Are plants propagated in any other way? 



136 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

(8) Have any plants more ways than one? 

2. Suggest other subjects. 

(i) Plan a set of questions. 

3. State reasons for such exercises. 

4. When and how are they best given? 

V. Advantages over the Lecture Method. 

1. Wakes up the minds of the pupils. 

(i) Sets the pupil to studying the world outside of 
books. 

(2) Reveals unknown tastes and aptitudes in the 

children. 

(3) Engages the pupil's interest in the school. 

(4) Cultivates the habit of observation and steady self- 

tuition. 

(5) Makes the pupil a learner everywhere from every- 

thing. 

(6) Leads into a knowledge of nature and command 

of her laws. 

(7) It is a primary introduction into the sciences. 

(8) Increases the joy of living. 

[Students should add to this list of advantages.] 

2. Wakes up the minds of the parents, 

(i) Revives the curiosity of childhood- 

(2) Breaks up mental stagnation. 

(3) Centers attention upon the school. 

(4) Secures parental cooperation. 

(5) Encourages fireside reading. 

[Add to this list.] 

3. Wakes up the mind of the teacher. 

(i) Takes him outside beaten tracks. 

(2) Relieves his leisure hours of languor. 

(3) It is a stimulus to self-improvement. 

[Add to this list independently.] 
VI. Cautions. 

1. Such exercises are to supplement, not to supplant, book 

study. 

2. They need to be recreative in order to be educative. 

3. They need to leave the pupil with longing, not with 

loathing. 



RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING 1 37 

4. The exercise on the ear of corn is given for suggestion, 

not for imitation. 

5. Arouse active inquiry and exhaust the pupiPs knowledge 

before you begin to lecture. 

SUBJECTS FOR DISCUSSION OR ESSAYS 

1. The Uses and Abuses of the Lecture Method. 

Putnam's Manual of Pedagogics, p. 197. 
Tate's Philosophy of Education, p. 273. 
Compayre's Psychology applied to Education, Chap. IX. 

2. Learning is Self-teaching. 

Morgan's Educational Mosaics, p. 229. 

Payne's Lectures on Education, pp. 105-137, 166-179. 

Compayre's Psychology applied to Education, p. 121. 

3. The Art of Questioning. 

Socrates. By Wm. F. Phelps. (10^.) Phillips and Hunt, N.Y. 

Compayre's History of Pedagogy, pp. 22-27. 

Gladman's School Method, pp. 21-25. 

Morgan's Educational Mosaics, p. 243. 

DeGraff's Schoolroom Guide, p. 357. 

Morgan's Studies in Pedagogy, Chap. XV. 

Baldwin's School Management, pp. 347-350. 

Putnam's Manual of Pedagogics, pp. 191-196. 

Fitch's Lectures on Teaching, Chap. VI. 

4. Nature Study in the Common Schools. 

Arnold's Waymarks for Teachers, Chap. I. 

Johonnot's Principles and Practices of Teaching, Chaps. V. 

and IX. 
Payne's Lectures on Teaching, pp. 253-271. 

5. The Uses and Abuses of Books in Education. 

Johonnot's Principles and Practices of Teaching, Chap. X. 

Montaigne's Essay on Pedantism. 

Report of the Committee of Fifteen. 

Compayre's Psychology applied to Education, p. 117. 

Bain's Education as a Science, p. 305. 



CHAPTER VIII 
CONDUCTING RECITATIONS 

''In every recitation training for power should be the principal 
aim of the teacher." — Patrick. 

" To know the end is almost to know the way, and to feel a 
strong impulse to reach the end is finally to find the way." 

— Dr. Payne. 

In considering a teacher's qualifications, the power 
of exciting an interest in the recitations of his school 
may not be overlooked. No man can be successful for 
any length of time without this. This comprises what 
is usually implied by aptness to teach. All men have 
not this faculty by nature in an equal degree. Some 
may talk for an hour upon an interesting topic in the 
presence of children without commanding their atten- 
tion ; while there are others who can take even a com- 
monplace subject and secure for any length of time an 
all-absorbing interest in every word. This difference 
is seen in every grade of public speakers, and in all 
descriptions of writers ; but perhaps more strikingly 
than anywhere else it is observable among teachers. 
Enter one school, and you may notice that the scholars 
are dull and listless ; indifference sits undisturbed upon 
their brows ; or perhaps they are driven by the activity 
of their own natures to some expedient to interest them- 
selves, while the teacher is with very commendable 
spirit, laboriously — perhaps learnedly — explaining some 

138 



CONDUCTING RECITATIONS 1 39 

principle or fact designed for their edification. The 
secret is, he has not yet learned to awaken their atten- 
tion ; he fails to excite their interest. 

Pass to another school. A breathless silence per- 
vades the room ; the countenances of the children, up- 
turned toward the teacher, beam with delight. As he 
kindles into earnestness and eloquence, they kindle 
into responsive enthusiasm. Whenever his eye meets 
theirs, he sees — h.Q feels the glow radiated by the fire 
he is lighting in their souls, and his own gathers new 
warmth and enthusiasm in return. Such a man is apt 
to teach; and you could scarcely break the spell by 
which he holds his class, " though you should give 
them for playthings, shining fragments broken from 
off the sun." 

He who possesses this gift naturally, has very great 
advantage as a teacher to begin with. The ability to 
tell zvell what he knows, is of more consequence to 
the teacher than the greatest attainments without the 
power to communicate them. Combine high attain- 
ments with the ability to tell, and you have the accom- 
plished teacher. 

But this power to communicate is not necessarily a 
natural gift ; it comes not always by intuition. It can 
be acquired. It is founded in philosophy ; and he who 
can understand anything of the workings of his own 
mind, who can revert to the mental processes he went 
through in order to comprehend a principle, who can 
go back to that state of mind he was in before he com- 
prehended it, and then by one step more can put him- 
self in the place of the child he is teaching, realizing 
exactly his perplexities and feeling his precise wants, 
can become the apt teacher. Those who fail in this 



140 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

are usually those who have forgotten the steps they 
took to acquire their own know^ledge, or perhaps who 
never noticed what steps they did take. 

To acquire this rare qualification should be the con- 
stant study of the teacher. To this end he should re- 
call, as far as possible, the operations of his own mind 
in childhood. By studying his own mind, he learns, 
often most effectually, what he needs to know of others. 
Whenever he is preparing to teach any principle or fact 
to others, let him ask himself questions like the follow- 
ing : What was the dark point in this, when I studied 
it } Where did my mind labor most } What point did 
my teacher fail to explain } Such questions will fre- 
quently suggest the very difficulty which perplexes 
every mind in the same process. Again, the following 
inquiries may be very useful : .In studying this, what 
was the first point which appeared clear to me } After 
this, what was the second step, and hozv did that follow 
the first t The next in order } And the next } Was 
this the natiwal order ? If not, what is the natural order .? 
The right answers to these questions will suggest the 
course to be pursued in the instruction of a class. 

The teacher can scarcely ask a more important ques- 
tion than this : What is the natural order of presenting 
a giveji subject ? The ability to determine this, is what 
constitutes in a great degree the science of teaching. 
This inquiry should occupy much thought because a 
mistake here is disastrous, and ever will be, as long as 
divine wisdom is superior to human. He who can as- 
certain the order of nature, will be most sure of exciting 
an interest in the subject he is endeavoring to teach. 

Some further suggestions as to conducting school 
recitations are contained in the following paragraphs. 



CONDUCTING RECITATIONS 14 1 

I. The teacher should thoroughly understand what 
he attempts to teach. It is destructive of all life in 
the exercise, if the teacher is constantly chained down 
to the text-book. I have no objection, indeed, that 
he should take his text-book with him to the class, and 
that he should occasionally refer to it to refresh his 
own memory, or to settle a doubt. But who does not 
know that a teacher who is perfectly familiar with what 
is to be taught, has ten times the vivacity of one who is 
obliged to follow the very letter of the book } His own 
enthusiasm glows in his countenance, sparkles in his 
eye, and leaps from his tongue. He watches the halt- 
ing of the pupil, perceives his difficulty, devises his ex- 
pedient for illustrating the dark point in some new way, 
and, at the proper moment, renders just the amount of 
assistance which- the pupil needs. Not confined to the 
text, he has the use of his eyes ; and when he speaks or 
explains, he can accompany his remark with a quicken- 
ing look of intelligence. In this way his class is en- 
livened. They respect him for his ready attainment, 
and they are fired with a desire to be his equal. 

How different is it with a teacher who knows nothing 
of the subject but what is contained in the text before 
him, and who knows that only as he reads it during the 
intervals occasioned by the hesitations of the class. 
Every question he proposes is printed at the bottom of 
the page ; and as soon as he reads the question, without 
a glance at the pupil, his eye sets out on a chase after 
the answer in the text. If the scholar has not already 
been stupefied by such teaching, and happens to give 
an inteUigent answer, yet not in the precise language of 
the book, he is set right by the teacher's reading the 
very words, — just so much detached from the sentence, 



142 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

as he fancies was intended to answer that one question ! 
In this way he discourages thought in his pupils, and 
sets a bounty on mechanical study. In this way, too, 
he congeals whatever of interest they bring with them 
to the recitation, and they sink into indifference, — or, 
following the instincts of their nature, they seek occu- 
pation in play or mischief, even under the sound of his 
voice ! 

2. The teachei' should specially p^^epave himself for 
each lesson lie assigns. This is naturally suggested 
by what has just been said. The teacher's memory 
needs to be refreshed. We all know how difficult it 
would be to recite a lesson, in geometry for instance, 
weeks after studying it. It is so in other things. 
Now the teacher should be so familiar with the lesson 
which he proposes to hear recited, that he could recite 
it himself as perfectly as he would desire his scholars 
to do it. This is seldom the case. I have heard a 
teacher, with the text-book in his hands, complain of 
the dullness or inaccuracy of his classes, when, if the 
tables had been turned, and the pupils allowed to ask 
the questions, the teacher would scarcely have recited 
as well. And I may add, this is no very nncommon 
thing! If any one is startled at this assertion, let him 
request a friend, in whom he can confide, to ask him 
the questions of a particular lesson in geography, or 
history, or grammar. The teacher should daily study 
his class lessons. This will enable him the better to 
assign his lessons judiciously. In this daily study, he 
should master the text-book upon the subject; and more 
than this, he should consider what collateral matter he 
can bring in to illustrate the lesson. He should draw 
upon the resources of his own mind, — upon the treas- 



CONDUCTING RECITATIONS 143 

Lires of his com7nojiplace book} — upon the contents of 
some encyclopedia, — upon any source, from whence he 
can obtain a supply of knowledge for his purpose. This 
will improve his own mind, and he will be encouraged, 
as from time to time he teaches the same branch, to find 
that he is able to do better than ever before, and that, 
instead of becoming weary with repetition, he is more 
and more enthusiastic in the subject. 

Going thus to his class — so full of the subject, that 
were the text-book annihilated, he could make another 
and better one — he will have no difficulty to secure at- 
tention. As he speaks, his eye accompanies his word, 
and as his pupils answer, he sees the expression of their 
countenances ; and what a world of meaning there is in 
this expression ! It betrays, better than words can do, 
the clearness or obscurity of the mind's perception, 
when a truth is presented. How different the beaming 
of the eye when the soul appreheiids, from that almost 

1 It is an excellent plan for every teacher to keep a commonplace book 
of considerable size, different portions of it being set apart for the different 
subjects upon which he is to give instruction. On the first twenty pages, 
" Geography " may be the head, — the next twenty pages may be set apart 
for '* History," — twenty more may be assigned to "Reading," — and a like 
number to " Arithmetic," " Grammar," " Spelling," " Writing," etc., re- 
serving quite a space for " Miscellaneous Matter." This would make a large 
book, but when it is remembered that it is to be used for several years, it 
is well to have it large enough to contain a large amount of matter. Now, 
whenever the teacher hears a lecture on a peculiar method of teaching 
either of these branches, let him note the prominent parts of it under the 
proper head, and especially the illustrations. When he reads or hears an 
anecdote illustrating Geography, History, or Grammar, let it be copied 
under the proper head. If it illustrates Geography, let the name of the 
place stand at its head. When he visits a school, and listens to a new ex- 
planation or a new process, let him note it under its head. In this way he 
may collect a thousand valuable things to be used with judgment in his 
school. 



144 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

idiotic stare at vacuity when words are used without im- 
port. And how necessary it is that the teacher should 
be free to observe the inward workings of the soul as 
indicated upon the countenance. 

3. The teac]ier sJwiild be able to 2ise otir language 
fluently and correctly. In this many are deficient. 
They hesitate and stammer, and after all, express 
their ideas in vague terms, and perhaps by the use 
of inaccurate or inelegant language. A teacher in 
no way gives so effectual instruction in grammar as by 
his own use of our language ; and there can be no sight 
more mortifying than that of a teacher laboring to fix in 
the minds of his class some rule of syntax, when his own 
language at the very moment shows an entire disregard 
of the rule. It is very common to hear teachers talk of 
** SHAHS " to their classes in arithmetic, and even to ask 
them to do " sums " in subtraction or division! The 
term ''question'' is often as improperly applied, when 
no question is asked. The teacher should be accu- 
rate in the use of terms. " Question " is sometimes 
the proper word ; sometimes '' problem," and sometimes 
"exercise," or ''example," may with more propriety be 
used; but ""sum'' means the amount of several num- 
bers when added, and it should not be applied as the 
name of an exercise. Some teachers use the terms ratio 
and proportion ^ interchangeably, as if they were syno- 
nyms. Such inaccuracies in the teacher will be sure to 
be reproduced in the school, and it is a great evil for 

1 We are reminded by this of the college student who was examined 
rather closely by his tutor. "What is ratio?" inquired the tutor. 
"Ratio?" said the young man, "ratio is proportion." "Well, what is 
proportion?" "Proportion? proportion is ratio." "Well, then," said 
the tutor, looking perplexed, "what are both together?" "Excuse me," 
said the pupil, " / can define hit one at a tivie ! " 



CONDUCTING RECITATIONS I45 

the scholar to acquire a careless habit in the use of 
terms. 

4. He sho2dd have proper animation himself. Horace 
Mann describes some of the Scotch teachers as work- 
ing themselves up into a feverish excitement in the 
presence of their classes, and the classes in turn 
as literally bounding from the floor when they answer 
their hasty questions. Now, while I think these Scotch 
teachers go quite too far, I do think that many of our 
own teachers come short of a proper standard of ani- 
mation. A teacher should be ready, without being 
rapid; animated, without being boisterous. Children 
are imitative beings ; and it is astonishing to observe 
how very soon they catch the manners of the teacher. 
If he is heavy and plodding in his movements, they will 
very soon be dull and drowsy in theirs ; then, if he 
speaks in a sprightly tone, and moves about with an 
elastic step, they almost realize a resurrection from the 
dead. If he appears absent-minded, taking but little 
interest in the lesson which is recited, they will be as 
inattentive, at least, as he; while, if all his looks and 
actions indicate that the subject is of some importance, 
he will gain their attention. Nor can I refrain in this 
place from suggesting to the teacher the importance of 
regarding his manners, while engaged in conducting a 
recitation. His attitude should not be one of indolence 
or coarseness, — and when he moves from his seat, and 
appears at the blackboard to illustrate any point, it 
should be done gracefully, and with a constant regard 
to the fact, that every look and every motion teaches. 

5. He should never proceed ivitJioiit the attention of 
the class. A loss of interest is sure to follow a 
want of attention. Besides, a habit of inattention, 

B.-r. THE. & PR. TEACHING — lO 



146 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

while it is very common, is also a great calamity to 
the person who falls into it during life. Many a ser- 
mon is lost upon a portion of the audience in our 
churches every Sabbath from this cause. When the 
attention is aroused, the impression made is enduring; 
and one idea then communicated is worth a hundred at 
any other time. 

6. Avoid a formal roiUiiie in teaching. Children 
are very apt to imbibe the notion that they stndy in 
order to 7'ecite. They have but little idea of any pur- 
pose of acquirement beyond recitation ; hence they 
study their text-book as mere words. The teacher 
should, as soon as possible, lead them to study the sub- 
ject, using the book simply as an instrument. *' Books 
are but helps " — should become their motto. In order 
to bring this about, the instructor would do well occa- 
sionally to leave entirely the order of the book, and 
question them on the topic they have studied. If they 
are pursuing arithmetic, for instance, and they have 
carefully prepared a definite number of problems, it 
might be well to test their ability by giving them at the 
recitation others of the teacher's own preparing, involv- 
ing an application of what they have learned to the 
business of life. This will lead them to study intelli- 
gently. Besides, as soon as they begin to see how their 
knowledge is to be useful to them, they have a new 
motive to exertion. They should be so taught as to 
discover that grammar will improve their understanding 
and use of language ; that writing will prepare them 
for business, and by enabling them to communicate 
with their friends, will add to their enjoyment ; and so 
of reading and the other branches. 

7. Be careftd to use language which is intelligible 



CONDUCTING RECITATIONS 147 

to cJiildreUy zvhenever an explanation is given. The 
object of an explanation is to elucidate, to make 
clearer. How is this object accomplished when the 
explanation is less intelligible than the thing ex- 
plained ? Suppose a child should ask her teacher 
to explain the cause of cold in winter and heat in 
summer ; in other words, the cause of the change of 
seasons. *' Oh, yes," says he, pleasantly. "The an- 
nual revolution of the earth round the sun, in connec- 
tion with the obliquity of the ecliptic, occasions the 
succession of the four seasons." ^ The child listens to 
these ''words of learned length" and is astonished at 
the learning of her teacher, but she has no clearer idea 
than before of the point she inquired about. 

Mr. S. R. Hall, in his lectures, gives the following 
forcible illustration of the same point. ''Will you 
please to tell me why I carry one for every ten t " said 
little Laura to her instructor. " Yes, my dear," said 
he, kindly. " It is because numbers increase from 
right to left in a decimal ratio." Laura sat and re- 
repeated it to herself two or three times, and then 
looked very sad. The master, as soon as he had an- 
swered, pursued his other business, and did not notice 
her. But she was disappointed. She understood him 
no better than if he had used words of another lan- 
guage. " Decimal " and " ratio " were words that 
might have fallen on her ear before, but if so, she 
understood them none the better for it. She looked 
in the dictionary and was disappointed again, and after 
some time, put away her arithmetic. When asked by 
her teacher why she did so, she replied, " I don't like 
to study it; I can't understand it." 

1 Worcester's Geography. 



148 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

'^ Now the injury to little Laura was very great. She 
had commenced the study with interest; she had learned 
to answer a great many questions in arithmetic, and had 
been pleased. She was now using a slate and writing 
her figures on it, and had found the direction to carry 
one for every ten. This she might have been made to 
understand. The master loved his scholars and wished 
to benefit them, but forgot that tej^ms perfectly plain to 
him would be tinintelligible to the child. From that 
moment Laura disliked arithmetic, and every effort 
that could be used with her could not efface the im- 
pression that it was a hard study, and she could not 
understand it." 

While upon this subject, I might urge that teachers 
should not resort to evasion when they are not able to 
explain. It is a much more honorable, and far more 
satisfactory course, for the teacher frankly to confess 
his inability to explain, than to indulge in some ridicu- 
lous mysticism to keep up the show of knowledge. I 
may never forget the passage I first made through the 
Rnle of Three, and the manner in which my manifold 
perplexities respecting ''direct and inverse" propor- 
tion were solved. " Sir," said I, after puzzling a long 
time over ' more requiring more and less requiring less ' 
— " will you tell me why I sometimes multiply the sec- 
ond and third terms together and divide by the first — 
and at other times multiply the first and second, and 
divide by the third t " " Why, because more requires 
more sometimes, and sometimes it requires less — to be 
sure. Haven't you read the rule, my boy.?" "Yes, 
sir, I can repeat the rule, but I don't understand it." 
"Why, it is because 'more requires more and less re- 
quires less ' ! " " But whyy sir, do I multiply as the rule 



CONDUCTING RECITATIONS 149 

says ? " *' Why, because ' more requires more and less 
requires less' — see, the rule says so.'' *' I know the 
rule says so, but I wished to understand why.'' "Why? 
zvJiyf" looking at me as if idiotcy itself trembled be- 
fore him — '' why ? — why, because the ride says so ; 
don't you see it? — More requires more and less requires 
less !" — and in the midst of this inexplicable combina- 
tion of more and less, I shrunk away to my seat blindly 
to follow the rule because it said so. Such teaching as 
this is enough to stultify the most inquiring mind ; and 
it is to secure the blessijig of .relief from such influence 
to the children of any particular district, that we come 
to consider an occasional change of teachers a miti- 
gated evil. 

8. Require prompt and accurate recitation. I know 
of nothing that will abate the interest of a class sooner 
than dull and dragging recitations. The temptation 
in such cases is very strong for the teacher to help 
the class by the " drawing-out process " before de- 
scribed. This, however, only makes the matter worse. 
The dull recitation calls for the teacher's aid ;. and his 
aid reproduces the dull recitation. The only way is to 
stop at once, and refuse to proceed till the recitation 
can go alone. It is just as easy to have good lessons as 
poor ; and the teacher should have the energy to insist 
upon them. Mark the countenances of a class as they 
go to their seats after a good recitation. They feel 
that they have done something, and they look as if 
they valued the teacher's approbation and their own 
so highly, that they will learn the next lesson still 
better. 

It is, moreover, a great saving of time to have the 
lessons promptly recited. This saving will afford the 



I50 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

opportunity to introduce those additional illustrations I 
have before suggested, in order to excite a still deeper 
interest. It may sometimes, though not always, be 
well to make a prompt and perfect recitation the condi- 
tion of introducing the additional matter. 

9. Rely not too mncJi tLpon siinultaneoiis recitation. 
This has become quite too fashionable of late. It 
had its origin in the large schools established some 
years since, known as the Lancasterian schools, and 
perhaps was well enough adapted to schools kept upon 
that plan in large cities. But when this mode of 
reciting is adopted in our district, and country schools, 
where the circumstances of large numbers and extreme 
backwardness are wanting, it is entirely uncalled for, 
and, like other city fashions transferred to the country, 
is really out of place. 

Seriously, I look upon this as one of the prominent 
faults in many of our schools. It destroys all inde- 
pendence in the pupil by taking away his individuality. 
He moves with the phalanx. Learning to rely on 
others, he becomes superficial in his lessons. He is 
tempted to indolence by a knowledge that his defi- 
ciencies will not stand out by themselves ; and he 
comforts himself after a miserable recitation with the 
consoling reflection that he has been able to conceal 
his want of thoroughness from his teacher. 

It may sometimes be useful. A few questions thus 
answered may serve to give animation to a class when 
their interest begins to flag ; but that which may serve 
as a stimulant must not be relied on for nutrition. As 
an example of its usefulness, I have known a rapid 
reader tamed into due moderation by being put in 
companionship with others of slower speech, just as 



CONDUCTING RECITATIONS 151 

we tame a friskful colt by harnessing him into a team 
of grave old horses. But aside from such definite pur- 
pose, I have seen no good come of this innovation. I 
am satisfied its prevalence is an evil, and worthy of 
the careful consideration of teachers. 

By the foregoing means and others which will sug- 
gest themselves to the thoughtful teacher's mind, he 
can arouse the interest of his classes so that study will 
be more attractive than play. For this object every 
teacher should labor. It is of course impossible to 
give specific rules to meet every case ; it is not desira- 
ble to do it. The teacher, put upon the track, will 
easily devise his own expedients ; and his ozvn, be it 
remembered, will usually be found the best for him. 

As a motive for every teacher to study carefully 
the art of teaching well at the recitation, it should be 
borne in mind that then and there he comes before 
his pupils in a peculiar and prominent manner ; it is 
there his mind comes specially in contact with theirs, 
and there that he lays in them, for good or for evil, 
the foundations of their mental habits. It is at the 
recitation, in a peculiar manner, that he makes his 
mark upon their minds ; and as the seal upon the 
wax, so his mental character upon theirs leaves its 
impress behind ! 

TOPICAL QUIZ 

I. Interest an indispensable conditio ti. 

A recitation must be interesting in order to be educative. 
It may be interesting without being educative ; stimu- 
lating without being nutritious. 

1. Describe the interesting and the uninteresting teacher. 

2. How can the power to interest be acquired? 



152 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

II. How can the lesson be 7nade interesting? 

1. The teacher must thoroughly understand what he at- 

tempts to teach. 
(I) Why? 

2. The teacher should specially prepare himself for each 

lesson he assigns. 

(I) Why? (2) How? 

3. The teacher's language should be fluent and accurate. 

(i) Why? (2) Illustrate the common inaccuracies 
of teachers. 

4. He should have proper animation. 

(i) Why? Page's standard of proper animation ? 

5. He should never proceed without the attention of the class. 

(i) Why? State some of the effects of attention. 

6. Avoid formal routine in teaching. 

(i) What is meant by formal routine? Illustrate. 
(2) Why avoid it? (3) How? 

7. Use intelligible language. 

(i) Illustrate the common use of unintelligible lan- 
guage. (2) Effects upon pupils ? (3) What 
is best, when the teacher cannot answer the 
pupil's question? 

8. Require prompt and accurate recitation. 

(I) Why? (2) How? 

9. Do not rely too much upon simultaneous recitations. 

(i) W^hat is meant by simultaneous recitations? 
Illustrate. (2) Why avoid such recitations as 
a rule? (3) When are they useful? (4) What 
was the Lancasterian method? Compayre's 
History of Pedagogy, pp. 514-518. 

10. Specific rules not desirable. Why? 

1 1 . How is the recitation especially the teacher's opportunity ? 

FORMS OF THE RECITATION 

I. Testing. 

1. In order to ascertain the pupil's deficiencies of effort, 

ability, and knowledge. 

2. In order to stimulate him to renewed industry. 

3. In order to ascertain what needs to be taught. 



CONDUCTING RECITATIONS 153 

1 1 . Teaching. 

1. Presenting the new idea — the immastered difficuhy. 

2. Relating it in every possible way to what the pupil already 

knows. 

3. Rounding up his ideas, ordering them into completeness. 

4. All by questions that lead the pupil into progressive self- 

discovery or verification of the truth ; or so, as far as 
may be possible. 

III. Tellnig. 

1 . What is purely arbitrary ; as new terms, forms, or pro- 

cesses. 

2. What he wants to know and cannot find out for himself. 

3. What will arouse interest and stimulate him to further 

effort. 

IV. Drillmg. 

I . Transforming knowledge into habit, learning into power 
and skill, by repeated expression of what has been 
learned. 

V. Reviewing. 

1 . In order to organize the pupil's knowledge of facts, forms, 

processes, principles, rules, etc. ; that is, to render his 
knowledge scientific. 

2. In order to test any weak points in the teaching or the 

learning. 

QUIZ UPON TOPICS 

1. The forms of the recitation? 

2. Is the order in which they are stated a necessary one? 

3. Why test at the start? 

4. State the steps in teaching. 

5. State the essential idea in teaching. The main agency. 

6. Is there a difference between teaching and telling? If so, 

state it. 

7. What is it legitimate to tell? When may the teacher begin to 

lecture? 

8. W^hat is drilling? Why is it so important? 

9. State the main purpose in reviews. 

10. State a necessary quality of good reviews. 

11. The use of reviews to the teacher? 



154 THEORY AND PRACTICE OE TEACHING 

SUBJECTS FOR DISCUSSION OR ESSAYS 

1. The recitation. 

The Recitation, by J. N. Patrick, St. Louis. 
DeGraff's Schoolroom Guide, pp. 338-371- 
Howlancrs Practical Hints to Teachers, Chap. VIIT. 
An Introduction to Herbart's Science and Practice of Educa- 
tion (Felkin), pp 105-11 8. 
Baldwin's Art of School Management, Part VI. 

2. Interest. 

An Introduction to Herbart's Science and Practice of Educa- 
tion (Felkin), pp. 90-102. 
Putnam's Manual of Pedagogics, Chap. X. 



CHAPTER IX 

EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY 

Interest is for the mind what appetite is for the body. Like 
appetite, interest indicates a need for food and the power to assimi- 
late it. Loss of interest, like loss of appetite, indicates unhealth. 
Both are unnatural. The teacher that cannot interest pupils in 
their school duties fails at the very start. 

It is ever an interesting question to the teacher, 
and one which he should consider with great care — 
" How can I excite an interest among my pupils in 
their studies ? " The intelHgent teacher feels that this 
is t/ie great question ; for he foresees that, if he fails 
here, his difficulty in governing his school will be very 
much increased. He therefore turns his attention with 
deep solicitude to the motives he may present, and the 
methods he may employ to awaken and keep alive the 
interest of the school. 

If he has reflected at all upon the subject, he has 
already arrived at the conviction that it is necessary 
for the good of all concerned that the interest awak- 
ened should be an abiding one ; that it should not only 
not abate during the term of school, but continue — 
nay, grow stronger and stronger — even after school 
days have passed away. There is probably no greater 
mistake in education than that of raising in school an 
artificial excitement, which may aid perhaps in secur- 
ing better recitations, but which will do nothing toward 

^55 



156 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

putting the mind into such a state that it will press on 
in the pursuit of knowledge ever after the living teacher 
has closed his labors. 

The higher principles of our nature, being aroused 
with difficulty, are too apt to be neglected by the 
teacher, and thus they remain in their original feeble- 
ness; while he contents himself with appealing to our 
lower characteristics, — thus doing a lasting injury by 
unduly cultivating and strengthening them, at the same 
time that he awakens after all but a temporary interest. 

In view of the importance of the subject, and the 
difficulty of judging aright upon it, I shall make no 
apology for devoting a few pages to the considera- 
tion of 

SECTION I. INCENTIVES TO STUDY EMULATION 

The teacher will find in a greater or less degree, in 
the mind of every child, the principle of Emulation. 
It is a question very much debated of late. What shall 
he do with it? Much has been said and written on 
this question, and the ablest minds, both of past ages 
and the present, have given us their conclusions re- 
specting it ; and it often increases the perplexity of the 
young teacher to find the widest difference of opinion 
on this subject among men upon whom in other things 
he would confidingly rely for guidance. Why, asks he, 
why is this } Is there no such thing as truth in this 
matter 1 or have these men misunderstood each other .'* 
When they have written with so much ability and so 
much earnestness, — some zealously recommending em- 
ulation as a safe and desirable principle to be encour- 
aged in the young, and others as warmly denouncing 
it as altogether unworthy and improper, — have they 



EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY I 57 

been thinking of the same tJiing? Thus perplexed 
with conflicting opinions, he is thrown back upon his 
own reflection for a decision; or what is more com- 
mon, he endeavors to find the truth by experimenting 
upon his pupils. He tries one course for one term, 
and a different one the next ; repeats both during the 
third, and still finds himself unsettled as he commences 
the fourth. Meantime some of his experiments have 
wrought out a lasting injury upon the minds of his 
pupils ; for, if every teacher must settle every doubt 
by new experiments upon his classes, the progress that 
is made in the science and art of teaching must be at 
the untold expense of each new set of children; — just 
as if the young doctor could take nothing as settled by 
the experience of his predecessors, but must try over 
again for himself the effect of all the various medical 
agents, in order to decide whether arsenic does cor- 
rode the stomach and produce death, — whether can- 
tharides can be best applied inwardly or outwardly, — 
whether mercury is most salutary when administered 
in ounces or grains, or whether repletion or abstinence 
is preferable in a fever ! When such is the course of 
a young practitioner in a community, who does not 
confidently expect the churchyard soon to become the 
most populous district, and the sexton to be the most 
thrifty personage in the village, unless indeed he too 
should become the subject of experiment.^ 

But is there not a good sense and a bad sense, asso- 
ciated with the term Emulation ; — and have not these 
eager disputants fallen into the same error, in this 
matter, that the two knights committed, when they 
immolated each other in a contest about the question 
whether a shield was gold or silver, when each had 



158 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

seen but one side of it ? I incline to the opinion that 
this is the case, — and that those who wax so warm in 
this contest, would do well to give us at the outset a 
careful definition of tJie term Emulation, as they in- 
tend to use it. This would perhaps save themselves a 
great deal of toil, and their readers a great deal of 
perplexity. 

Now it seems to me the truth on this question lies 
within a nutshell, i. If emulation means a desire for 
improvement^ progress, grozuth, — an ardent wish to rise 
above one's present condition or attainments, — or even 
an aspiration to attain to eminence in the school or in 
the world, it is a laudable motive. This is self -emula- 
tion. It presses the individual on to surpass himself. 
It compares his present condition with what he would 
be — with what he ought to be ; and " forgetting those 
things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those 
which are before, he presses towards the mark for 
the prize." " An ardor kindled by the praiseworthy 
examples of others, inciting to imitate them, or to equal, 
or even excel them, without the desire of depressing 
them," 1 is the sense in which the apostle uses the term 
[Romans xi. 14] when he says : '' If by any means I 
may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and 
might save some of them." If this be the meaning of 
emulation, it is every way a worthy principle to be ap- 
pealed to in school. This principle exists to a greater 
or less extent in the mind of every child, and may very 
safely be strengthened by being called by the teacher 
into lively exercise ; provided always, that the eminence 
is sought from a desire to be useful, and not from a 
desire of self-glorification. 

1 Dr. Webster. 



EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY 159 

2. But if emulation, on the other hand, means a desire 
of surpassing others for the sake of smpassing them ; 
if it be a disposition that will cause an individual to be 
as well satisfied with the highest place, whether he has 
risen above his fellows by his intrinsic welldoing, or 
they have fallen below him by their neglect ; if it puts 
him in such a relation to others that tJieir failures will 
be as gratifying to him as Jiis oivn success ; if it be a 
principle that prompts the secret wish in the child that 
others may miss their lessons, in order to give him an 
opportunity to gain applause by a contrast with their 
abasement, — then, without doubt it is an unworthy and 
unholy principle, and should never be encouraged or 
appealed to by the teacher. It has no similitude to 
that spirit which prompts a man to *'Iove his neighbor 
as himself." It has none of that generosity which 
rejoices in the success of others. Carried out in after 
life, it becomes ambitioji, such as fired the breast of a 
Napoleon, who sought a throne for himself, though he 
waded through the blood of millions to obtain it. 

It is to this principle that the apostle, before quoted, 
alludes, when he classes emulation with the " works of 
the flesh," which are these : '' adultery, fornication, 
uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, 
variance. Emulation, wrath, strife, seditions, etc., — of 
the which things, I tell you before, as I have told you 
in times past, that they which do such things shall not 
inherit the kingdom of God." It is of this principle 
that the commentator, Scott, remarks : *' This thirst for 
human applause has caused more horrible violations of 
the law of love, and done more to desolate the earth, 
than even the grossest sensuality ever did." 

Thus emidation is a term which indicates a very 



l60 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

good or a very bad thing, according to the definition 
we give it. In one view of it, the warmest aspirings 
to rise are consistent with a generous wish that others 
may rise also. It is even compatible with a heartfelt 
satisfaction in its possessor at the progress of others, 
though they should outstrip him in his upward course. 
It is the spirit which actuates all true Christians, as 
they wend their way heavenward, rejoicing the more 
as they find the way is thronged with those who hope 
to gain an immortal crown. 

In the other view of it, we see men actuated by self- 
ishness mingled with pride, inquiring, in the spirit of 
those mentioned in Scripture, *'Who among us shall be 
the greatest 1 " We everywhere see men violating these 
sacred injunctions of divine wisdom : " Let no man 
seek his own, but every man another's wealth." '' Let 
nothing be done through strife or vainglory ; but in 
lowliness of mind, let each esteem other better than 
themselves." — "In honor preferring one another." 

If such be the true pictures of emulation, in both the 
good and the bad sense, certainly teachers cannot hesi- 
tate a moment as to their duty. They may appeal to 
the principle first described, — cultivate and strengthen 
it ; and in so doing, they may be sure they are doing 
a good work. But unless they intend to violate the 
teachings of common sense, and the higher teachings 
of Christianity, / knoiv not hoiv they can appeal to the 
principle of emulation as defined in the second case. 

But it may be urged that the teacher will find emula- 
tion, even in this latter sense, existing in human nature ; 
that he cannot get rid of it if he will ; that it will be 
one of the most active principles to which he can resort 



EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY l6l 

in arousing the mind to exertion ; and, furthermore, 
that it has been appealed to by many of the most 
eminent teachers time out of mind. 

To this it is repUed, that it is not disputed that chil- 
dren are selfish ; and that this selfishness may indeed 
be made a powerful instrumentality in urging them 
forward to the attainment of a temporary end. But 
does the existence of selfishness prove that it needs 
cultivation in the human character ? And will the end, 
when attained, justify the means } Is the end, what- 
ever it may be, if attained at such a cost, a blessing to 
be desired } Will not the heart suffer more than the 
head will gain } 

It may be -further urged, that the child will find the 
zvorld full of this principle when he leaves the school ; 
and why, it is asked, should he at school be thrown into 
an unnatural position } I answer that evil is not to be 
overcome by making evil more prevalent, — and though 
there may be too much of self-seeking in the world, 
that is the very reason why the teacher should not 
encourage its growth. The more true Christianity 
prevails in the world, the less there will be of that 
spirit which rejoices at another's halting; hence I am 
convinced the teacher should do nothing to make that 
spirit more prevalent. 

Nor is it essential to the progress of the pupil even 
temporarily, since there are other and worthier princi- 
ples which can be as successfully called into action. 
If we look carefully at the expediency of thus stimu- 
lating the mind, we find that after the first trial of 
strength, many become disheartened and fall behind in 
despair. It will soon be obvious, in*a class of twenty, 
who are the few that will be likely to surpass all others ; 

B.-P. THE. & PR. TEACHING — II 



1 62 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

and therefore all the others, as a matter of course, fall 
back into envy, perhaps into hopeless indifference. 
Who has not seen this in a class in spelling, for instance, 
where the strife was for the ''head'' of the class, but 
where all but two or three were quite as well satisfied 
with being at the ''foot'' ? It does not then accomplish 
the purpose for which it is employed ; and since those 
who are aroused by it are even more injured than those 
who are indifferent, their undesirable qualities being 
thus strengthened, the opinion is entertained that those 
teachers are the most wise, who bend their ingenuity 
to find some other means to awaken the minds of the 
children under their charge. 

From what has been said, then, emulation is to be 
recognized or repudiated among the incentives of the 
schoolroom, according to the signification we assign to 
the term. 

SECTION II. PRIZES 

It has for a long time been the custom of teachers to 
offer some prize as an incentive to exertion in school ; 
a prize of some pecuniary value, a book, or a medal. 
In some places beneficent individuals have bestowed by 
legacy the means to purchase annually the prizes thus 
to be used. Every young teacher is called upon, there- 
fore, to inquire whether such an incentive is a proper 
one to be employed in the schoolroom. If there is any 
good to be expected from such an incentive, will it 
counterbalance the evils that spring from the practice.'^ 
Will the good of the whole school be promoted by such 
a measure, — and will this be a permanent or a temporary 
good ? These are questions which press for an honest 
answer ; and the faithful teacher should not shrink 



EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY 163 

from a careful investigation of the whole matter ; and 
if he finds good reason to differ from time-honored 
authority, he should abide by the truth rather than by 
prescriptive usage. 

In my own case, I may be allowed to say, my mind 
was early turned to this point; though, I confess, with 
a strong bias in favor of the use of prizes. Pretty 
thoroughly for a series of years did I test their efficacy, 
but with a growing conviction that the prize was not 
the proper instrumentality to create a healthy interest in 
the school. This conviction acquired additional strength 
by three or four years' trial of other incentives; and it 
was fully confirmed afterwards by a trial made for the 
purpose of testing again the efficacy of a prize, at an 
age when I could more carefully watch the workings of 
the human mind, and better appreciate the benefits or 
evils resulting from such a measure. I am now free to 
say that I am satisfied that prizes offered to a school in 
stick a way that all may compete for them, and only two 
or three obtain them, zuill always be productive of evil 
consequences, far overbalancing any temporary or partial 
good that may arise from them, and therefore they oitght 
not to be nsed as incitements in our schools} 

Having expressed an opinion so decidedly upon a 
measure which claims among its friends and advocates 
some of the best minds in the country, I shall be 
expected to assign some reasons for the faith I enter- 
tain. From this I shall not shrink. I proceed there- 

^ It may be well to remind the reader that I have used the term prizes 
here in contradistinction from a system of rewaj'ds, by which the teacher 
proposes to give some token of his regard to every one who does well, — 
and the more brilliant success of a few does not necessarily preclude others 
from participating in the favor according to their merit. Of such a system 
of rewards I shall have something to say presently. 



1 64 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

fore to express such objections to the use of prizes, as 
have been suggested to my mind by my own experience, 
and confirmed by the experience and observation of 
others in whom I have great confidence. 

I. TJie offer of a prize gives imdiie promittence to a 
comparatively tmzvortJiy object. It practically teaches 
the child to undervalue the higher reward of a good 
conscience, and a love of learning for its own sake. 
The dazzling medal is placed in the foreground of his 
field of vision.; and it is very likely to eclipse those less 
showy but more abiding rewards found in a sense of 
duty and a desire to be qualified for usefulness. In 
studying his lesson he thinks of the prize. He studies 
that he may merely recite well; for it is a good recita- 
tion that wins the prize. He thinks not of duty, or of 
future usefulness ; the /;7>^ outshines all other objects. 

II. TJie pursuit of a prize engenders a spirit of 
rivalry among the pnpils. Rivalry in pursuit of an 
object which only one can attain, and which all otJiers 
must lose, must end in exultation on the part of the 
winner, and disappointment and envy on the part of 
the losers. It may be said, this onght not to be so; but 
seldom can it be said that it is not so. Such is human 
nature, and such it ever will be. Unpleasant feelings 
— sometimes concealed, to be sure — but generally ex- 
pressed in unequivocal terms — grow out of the award 
of almost every school prize, and sometimes continue 
to exert their baleful influence through life. Now as 
long as human nature brings forth unlovely traits almost 
spontaneously, such direct efforts to cultivate them 
surely are not called for. It is the part of wisdom, 
then, to omit such culture and avoid such results, 
especially when safer means are so accessible. 



EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY 165 

III. The hope of gaining the prize stimulates only the 
feiv, zvhile the nia^ty become indifferejit. This is ad- 
mitted to be true even by the advocates of the prize 
system. Let a prize be offered in any class as a 
reward for the best scholarship, and in a very few days 
it becomes perfectly obvious to all who the two or three 
are that will be likely to outstrip all the others. These 
two or three will be stimulated to exertion ; but the 
strife is left entirely to them. All others, despairing of 
success, resolve at once to "let their moderation be 
known to all men "; and since the prize has been made 
so prominent an object, they cannot be expected now to 
look at anything above and beyond it. Feeling that 
they are not likely to participate in the honors of the 
class, they have but little disposition to share in its toils. 

This to be sure is not always so. There are some 
who, ceasing to strive for the prize, toil for the more 
substantial blessing — a good education, — and in the 
end come out the best scholars. This is the way in- 
deed most of our strong men are made ; for it has long 
been remarked that the prize scholars in our schools, 
and even in our colleges, do not usually become the 
most distinguished men. On the other hand, many of 
them are never heard of after receiving their honors. 
But, though some of the slower scholars do thus hit 
upon the true path to eminence, it is not to be set to 
the credit of the system ; they rise in spite of the system 
rather than by virtue of it, while the ultimate failure 
of the prize scholars is usually directly attributable to 
the defect of the system ; for having been unduly stim- 
ulated to study solely with reference to recitation, and 
not with regard to future usefulness, their memories 
have been developed out of all proportion to the other 



1 66 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

faculties of their minds; and, though they may have 
been very good reciters, they have no power to become 
independent thinkers. Under different training they 
might have become strong men. 

But to look no further than the school, the remark 
holds true in general, that prizes stiimdate the feiv, and 
the many become ijtdijferent not only to prizes, but to 
other and better motives. That system of incentives 
only can be approved which reaches and influences suc- 
cessfully all the mind subjected to its operation. 

Nor is this an unimportant consideration. It is not 
sufficient praise for a teacher that he has a feiv good 
scholars in his school. Almost any teacher can call out 
the talent of the active scholars and make them brilliant 
reciters. The highest merit, however, lies in reaching 
all the pupils, the dull as well as the active, and in mak- 
ing the most of them, or rather in leading them to make 
the most of themselves. It should be remembered 
of every child, that the present is his only opportunity of 
being a child, and of receiving the training appropriate 
to childhood ; and that teacher who rests satisfied with 
a system that does not reach the many, while he amuses 
himself and his visitors with the precocity of a few of 
his most active scholars, is recreant to his responsible 
trust. 

IV. There is much difficulty in awarding the prize so 
as to do strict justice to all. So many things are to be 
taken into the account in order to determine the excel- 
lence of a performance compared with others, that some 
particulars are very likely to be overlooked. Those who 
are called to judge of the results often disagree among 
themselves. The following anecdote will illustrate this. 
Three literary gentlemen were appointed to select the 



EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY 1 6/ 

best from several compositions presented by a class, 
who had written them in competition for a gold medal. 
Each of the gentlemen carefully read the whole number 
in private, and conscientiously selected the best accord- 
ing to his judgment. When they came together to com- 
pare results, it was found that each man had selected 
t/ie best, but that no two had selected the same ! They 
carefully read and compared the three, and still each 
insisted that his original choice was the best. After 
much debate and considerable delay, one of the parties 
being obliged to go to his business, relieved himself from 
a painful detention, and his friends from a perplexing 
doubt, by saying he believed the composition he had se- 
lected ivas the best, but, as he could not stop to claim 
its rights, he would yield them in favor of the second best 
in the hands of one of his associates. This ended the 
dispute, and the action in favor of the successful one 
was declared to be unanimous ! 

This only proves how difficult it is to decide ; and in 
the case just cited, it might well be asked, why should 
one of these competitors be held up to the multitude to 
be applauded and admired, and the others sent back to 
their classes covered with the shame of a failure .? What 
principle oi justice sanctioned this decision } 

Nor is this a solitary instance. It rarely happens that 
the case is perfectly clear. There is usually much per- 
plexity about it ; and hence one reason why the decision 
seldom satisfies the friends of the parties either in the 
school or at home. But other considerations besides the 
intrinsic merits of the performance are to be taken into 
account in awarding a prize ; as, 

I. A dijference in the external facilities which the com- 
petitors enjoy for getting the lessons. One pupil may be 



1 68 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

the son of poverty, and be compelled to labor during all 
the hours out of school ; another may be in easy circum- 
stances, and have nothing to prevent giving undivided 
attention to study during the whole day. One may be 
the child of parents who have no power to render as- 
sistance by way of explaining a difficult point ; while 
the other may have all his doubts removed at once by 
parental aid. One may never even be encouraged by 
a kind word at home ; another is constantly urged to 
effort, and perhaps not allowed to be idle. One may 
have access to no books but his school manuals ; the 
other may have at his command a large library. This 
difference in circumstances should be taken into the ac- 
count ; but it never can be fully understood by those 
who are called to decide. 

2. The impi'opermeans ivhicJi 7nay have been employed 
to secure the prize. Ambition when aroused is not al- 
ways scrupulous of its means. One competitor may be 
high-minded ; may enter the arena determined to suc- 
ceed by an honorable strife ; may resolve to succeed by 
his own exertions, or to fail rather than bring in any- 
thing which is not the fruit of his own study. Another, 
regardless of honor or principle, resolves only to succeed, 
whatever it may cost ; hesitates not to copy from others 
if possible, or to apply to a brother in college or some 
friend in the High School to furnish the difficult solu- 
tion, prepared to order. One young lady spends days 
and nights in arranging the glowing thoughts for her 
composition, determined if industry, study, good taste, 
and a careful application of the rules of rhetoric can 
effect anything, that her production shall be wortJiy of 
a prize. Another, in no way distinguished for scholar- 
ship, industry, or honor, writes a careless letter to a 



EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY 1 69 

married sister in a distant city, invoking her aid. In due 
time the mail brings an elegant essay. It is copied with 
sufficient accuracy to be read, and at the examination 
takes the prize ! The fair ^^ autJioress " stands forth and 
is flattered before the multitude, — is perhaps made to 
believe that she is ivoTthy of praise ; she grasps the 
golden bauble, and, covered with the blushes of modesty, 
receives the congratulations and caresses of friends, and 
is afterwards reputed a good scholar. Her competitors 
meantime become convinced that effort cannot rival 
genius ; they are mortified to think they have presumed 
to enter the arena with native talent, and become dis- 
heartened as to any future attempt. 

Now where is the justice in all this proceeding } Yet 
this is not fiction ; it is Jdstory ! If such abuses — 
abuses that might well make an angel weep, revealing, 
as they do, that w^oman's heart can be thus sold to de- 
ception — are the accompaniments of a prize system, 
may we not well doubt the utility of that system } 

Yet who can know either the different facilities en- 
joyed by the competitors, or the want of principle in 
some of them .'' Who can enter the secret chambers of 
the mind or the heart, and estimate with any accuracy 
the just amount of merit in any action .'' This is God's 
prerogative, while " man looketh only on the outward 
appearance." My inference then is : A system can 
hardly be safe whieh is so uncertain. 

V. The prize rezvards success, not effort ; talent, 
not WORTH. Every one knows that in estimating the 
value and virtue of an action, the motive which prompted 
it, and the effort it necessarily cost, should be taken into 
the account. Every one knows, too, that success in study 
is by no means a criterion by which to judge of the 



I/O THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

merits of the scholar. Some learn their lessons with 
great facility and with but little effort ; others study 
long and patiently without any brilliant results. One 
competitor for a prize may bring results which have 
cost him midnight toil and the most unremitting per- 
severance ; another v/ith brighter parts, and with but 
little labor, is able to surpass him, and takes the medal. 
Now the former deserves in a far higher degree the 
encouragement of the reward ; yet it is given to him 
who has the talent but who lacks the industry. The 
rule of Scripture which announces that " to whom much 
is given, of him shall mitch be required,'' is violated, and 
he is rewarded for producing but little more than the 
one to whom little is given. 

It is often urged by those who advocate a system of 
prizes and rewards, that God rezvards ; and therefore it 
is at least justifiable that we should imitate his example. 
I admit that God, in his government, does reward ; but 
he rewards effort rather than success ; he " looketh upon 
the heart " as man cannot do, and rewards worth, not 
talent. We might, indeed, imitate his example, if we 
had less frailty, and were not so liable to be imposed 
upon by the outward appearance. God indeed rewards 
men ; but he estimates the secret intention, seeing the 
inward springs of thought before they find expression 
in words or actions. He regards the motive, and holds 
out for the encouragement of the humblest child of 
earth, who does the best he can, as rich a crown of 
glory, as he does for those whose outward circum- 
stances, in the eyes of mortals, are more auspicious. 
When man can as wisely and as righteously bestow his 
prizes and rewards, there will be far less objection to 
their use. 



EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY iyi 

VI. T/ie pupil zvJio studies for a prize as his chief 
7notive, will seldom conti7iue to study zvhen the prize is 
zvithdrazun. This is so obvious as scarcely to need 
illustration. If it be necessary to add anything to the 
mere statement of the fact, an appeal to almost uni- 
versal experience would confirm it. A teacher who has 
depended upon prizes in a school, finds it very difficult 
to awaken an interest there when he withdraws the 
prize. Hence many have, on trying the experiment of 
abandoning the prize system, become discouraged, and 
have returned again to the use of prizes, believing them 
essential to their success. Thus the very argument 
which shows most clearly their pernicious tendency, is 
made a reasbn for continuing them. As before hinted, 
the prize scholars in our academies, and even our col- 
leges, are seldom distinguished men in after life, — a 
fact that speaks conclusively on this point. But it can 
scarcely be necessary to spend words to prove a truth 
ilmost self-evident. 

VII. By the prize system, the influence of the good ex- 
ample of some of the best pupils is lost iipon tJie school. 
All who have taught know how important this influence 
is to the success of the school. It tells with resistless 
power upon the other scholars, wherever it exists, unless 
some unworthy motive can be assigned for it. But 
under the prize system, let a teacher appeal to the 
example of his best scholars, and the reply is, " Oh, 
yes, he behaves well, or he studies diligently, but he 
is trying to get the prized With this understanding, 
his example becomes powerless, unless, indeed, there 
may be a disposition to be unlike him in everything. 
It is believed this is a consideration of considerable 
importance. 



172 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

I have thus assigned, at some length, the reasons 
why I should discountenance, among the incentives of 
the school, the use of prizes. 

As to the use of Rezvards^ when they are made so 
numerous that every one who is really deserving may 
receive one, — and when the basis of their distribution 
is not talent, not success merely, but good intention 
and praiseworthy effort, — I have much less to say. 
As expressions of the teacher's interest in the children, 
and of his approval of their welldoing, they may serve 
a good end. Perhaps there is no very strong objec- 
tion to them in principle ; though if the teacher sub- 
jects himself to the necessary outlay in the purchase 
of them, it may easily become very burdensome to 
him. 

I may add, however, that / do not think rewards are 
necessary to the teacher s success. I should prefer to do 
without them. 

It is possible to produce such a feeling in the school- 
room that the approving conscience of the child and the 
commendatory smile of the teacher shall be the richest 
of all rewards. These come without money and with- 
out price, and may always be freely and safely bestowed, 
wherever there is a good intention exhibited by the 
child. That is the most healthy state of things where 
these are most prized. 

As children whose parents begin early to hire them 
to do their duty are seldom ready afterwards to render 
their cheerful service as an act of filial obligation, when- 
ever the pay is withheld, — so children at school, who 
have been accustomed to expect a reward, seldom pur- 
sue their studies as cheerfully when that expectation 
is cut off. 



EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY 1 73 

SECTION III. PROPER INCENTIVES 

In what has already been said, it has been more than 
hinted that there are higher attributes than emulation, 
which the teacher should address, and which, if he is 
successful in calling them into exercise, will be quite 
sufficient to insure the proper application of his pupils 
to their studies. They have the merit, moreover, of 
being safe. They do not unduly stimulate the intel- 
lectual, at the expense of the moral faculties. Their 
very exercise constitutes a healthy growth of the moral 
nature. Some of these I may briefly allude to. 

I. A DESIRE TO GAIN THE APPROBATION OF THEIR 

PARENTS AND TEACHER. — The lovc of approbation is as 
universal in the human mind as emulation. Not one 
in a thousand can be found who does not possess it. 
Within proper limits, it is a desirable trait in human 
character. It is, to be sure, one of the selfish propen- 
sities ; but among them all, it is the most innocent. 
Carried to an extreme, it would lead its possessor to 
crave the good opinion of the bad as well as of the 
good, and to become an obsequious seeker after popu- 
larity. This, of course, is to be deprecated. But there 
can be no danger of this extreme, as long as the appro- 
bation of paj'ents and teachers is the object aimed at. 
It implies in the child a respect for the opinions, and a 
confidence in the justice of his parents and teachers; 
and hence it implies in him a generous desire to please, 
as a condition of being commended by them. 

In this sense, the love of approbation may be ap- 
pealed to by the teacher. He perhaps need not fre- 
quently use the language of praise. It will generally 
be sufficient, if the smile of approval beams forth in 



174 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

his countenance. If he is judicious as well as just, 
this boon soon becomes a precious one to the child. 
It is a reward, moreover, which 

"is twice blest ; 
It blesseth him who gives and him who takes." 

II. A DESIRE OF ADVANCEMENT. — This is emulation 
in its good sense. It leads the child, as before re- 
marked, to compare his present standing and attain- 
ments with what they should be, and to desire to 
surpass himself. This is ever commendable. Man 
was made for progress ; and it is no unworthy aspira- 
tion, when this desire fires the youthful breast. The 
teacher, then, may appeal to this desire, may kindle it 
into a flame even, with safety, — because it is a flame 
that warms without consuming that on which it feeds. 

III. A DESIRE TO BE USEFUL. — The good tcachcr 
should never fail to impress upon the child that the 
object of his being placed on earth was that he might 
be of some use to the world by which he is surrounded. 
'' No man liveth to himself, and no man dieth to him- 
self." He can be thus useful by storing the mind with 
knowledge and the heart with right affections. He 
may be reminded of the connection between his pres- 
ent studies and the pursuits of life to which they may 
be applied. Some judicious hint at the future appli- 
cation of any branch is always a good preparation of 
the mind to pursue it. If there is a definite object in 
view, there will always be more alacrity in the labor 
of study ; and this may be made to influence the young 
pupil as well as the more advanced. It is no small 
thing for the child if he can be early made to feel that 
he is living to some purpose. 

IV. A DESIRE TO DO RIGHT. — This, in other words, 



EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY 1 75 

is a" disposition to obey conscience by conforming to 
the will of God. This indeed is the highest and holiest 
of all the motives to human action. In its fullest sense 
it constitutes the fundamental principle of a religious 
character. The teacher should most assiduously cul- 
tivate in the child a regard for this principle. God 
has implanted the conscience in every child of earth, 
that it should early be made use of to regulate the 
conduct. That teacher is either grossly ignorant or 
madly perverse, who disregards the conscience, while 
he appeals alone to the selfishness of the young, and 
thus practically teaches that moral obligation is a nul- 
lity ; that the law of God — so beautifully expounded 
by the Savior — *' Thou shalt love the Lord thy God 
with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy 
mind," and ''Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" 
— is of little consequence ; and that the injunction of the 
apostle — " Whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye 
do, do all to the glory of God," is as good as obsolete. 
In early childhood the conscience is most active. It 
needs, to be sure, at that period to be enlightened ; but 
if the teachings of Revelation are made plain to the 
child, he seldom disregards them. The teacher has at 
this period very much to do, as I have before said in 
the chapter on Responsibility of Teachers ; and he can- 
not neglect his duty without the most aggravated cul- 
pability. The point I urge here, is, that he should use 
these motives as incentives to study. The child can be 
made to feel that he owes the most diligent efforts for 
improvement to his teacher, who daily labors for his 
improvement ; to his parents, who have kindly supplied, 
his wants, and have provided the means for his culti- 
vation ; to society, whose privileges he may enjoy, and 



176 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

to which he is bound to make a return by becoming an 
intelligent and useful member of it; to himself, as a 
rational and immortal being, capable of unbounded en- 
joyment or untold misery, just in proportion as he pre- 
pares himself for either; and above all to his Creator, 
by whose bounty he lives, surrounded with friends and 
blessed with opportunities, which are denied to millions 
of his fellow-beings, — by whose gracious providence 
he has been endowed with faculties and capabilities 
making him but little lower than the angels, and which 
he is bound to cultivate for usefulness and for heaven, 
— by whose mercy he has been supplied, as millions 
have not, with the word of God, to guide his mind to 
things above, and with the influences of Christian so- 
ciety, to cheer him in his path to heaven ; — above all, 
I repeat, should the child be taught to feel that he owes 
to God his best efforts to make the most of all his 
powers for time and eternity. If this can be done 
(and I believe to a great extent it can be done), there 
will be no need of a resort to those questionable incen- 
tives found in exciting children to outstrip their fellows 
by prizes and rewards ; while in this very process the 
foundation of a good moral training will be laid, without 
which the perfect structure of a noble character can 
never be reared in later life. 

To the motives already alluded to, if it be necessary 
to add another, I would urge, 

V. The pleasure of acquisition. — This is often 
underrated by teachers. Our Creator has not more 
universally bestowed a natural appetite for the food 
which is necessary for the growth of the body, than he 
has a mental longing for the food of the mind ; and as 
he has superadded a sensation of pleasure to the neces- 



EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY 1 77 

sary act of eating, so he has made it a law of the mind 
to experience its highest dehght while in the act of re- 
ceiving the mental aliment. Whoever has observed 
childhood with an attentive eye, must have been im- 
pressed with the wisdom of God in this arrangement. 
How 'much the child acquires within the first three 
years of its birth ! He learns a difficult language with 
more precision than a well-educated adult foreigner 
could learn it in the same time ; yet language is not his 
only or his chief study. During these same three years, 
he makes surprising advances in general knowledge. 
He seeks an intimate acquaintance with all the physical 
objects by which he is surrounded. The size, form, 
color, weight; temperature, and use of each are investi- 
gated by the test of his own senses, or ascertained by 
innumerable inquiries. His ideas of height and dis- 
tance, of light and heat, of motion and velocity, of cause 
and effect, are all well defined. He has made no mean 
attainments in morals. He comprehends the law of 
right and wrong so that his decisions may well put to 
the blush his superiors in age ; and unless grossly 
neglected, he has learned the duty of obedience to 
parents and reverence toward God. Now all this 
amazing progress has been made, because of the irre- 
pressible curiosity with which God has endowed him, 
and the unspeakable delight he experiences in acquiring 
the knowledge which gratifies it. 

All must have noticed the delight with which the 
child grasps a new idea ; but a few have been able so 
eloquently to describe it, as it is done by Mr. Mann. 
"Mark a child," says he, "when a clear, well-defined, 
vivid conception seizes it. The whole nervous tissue 
vibrates. Every muscle leaps. Every joint plays. 

B.-P. THE. & PR. TEACHING — 12 



178 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

The face becomes auroral. The spirit flashes through 
the body Uke lightning through a cloud. 

'' Observe, too, the blind, the deaf, and the dumb. 
So strong is their inborn desire for knowledge, — such 
are the amazing attractive forces of their minds for it, 
that although the natural inlets, the eye and the ear, are 
closed, yet they will draw it inward, through the solid 
walls and encasements of the body. If the eye be cur- 
tained with darkness, it will enter through the ear. If 
the ear be closed in silence, it will ascend along the 
nerves of touch. Every new idea that enters into the 
presence of the sovereign mind, carries offerings of 
delight with it, to make its coming welcome. Indeed, 
our Maker created us in blank ignorance, for the very 
purpose of giving us the boundless, endless pleasure of 
learning new things." 

It is, of course, not to be expected that the same 
degree of pleasure will attend the learner in every 
acquisition as the novelty diminishes, and as he ad- 
vances in age. The bodily appetite is less keen in after 
life than in childhood, so that the adult may never real- 
ize again to the full extent the delicious flavors which 
regaled him in his earliest years. Still there will ever 
be a delight in acquisition ; and to carry our illustration 
a little further, — as the child is soonest cloyed whose 
stomach is surfeited with dainties, and stimulated with 
condiments, and pampered with sweetmeats, till his taste 
has lost its acumen, and digestion becomes a burden ; 
so the mental appetite is soonest destroyed, when, under 
the unskillful teacher, it is overloaded with what it can 
neither digest nor disgorge. The mind may be sur- 
feited ; and then no wonder if it loathes even the whole- 
some aliment. Artificial stimulants, in the shape of 



EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY 1 79 

prizes, and honors, and flattery, and fear, and shame, 
may have impaired its functions, so that it ceases to act 
except under their excitement. But all must see that 
these are unnatural conditions, superinduced by erro- 
neous treatment. There is still a deligJit in acquisition, 
just as soon as the faculties are aroused to the effort; 
and the skillful teacher will strive to ivake iLp the mind 
to find this delight, — and if he understands his work, 
he will scarcely need a stronger incentive. If he under- 
stands the' secret of giving just so much instruction as 
to excite the learner's curiosity, and then to leave him to 
discover and acquire for himself, he will have no neces- 
sity to use any other means as stimulants to exertion. 

To this might be added that irrepressible curiosity, 
that all-pervading desire to knozv, which is found in the 
mind of every child. The mind, as if conscious of its 
high destiny, instinctively spreads its unfledged wings 
in pursuit of knowledge. This, wdth some children, is 
an all-sufficient stimulant to the most vigorous exertion. 
To this the teacher may safely appeal. Indeed, it is a 
convincing proof of the wisdom as well as the goodness 
of God, that this desire to knozv, as well as the delight 
of acquisition, are the most active at that early period 
of childhood, when a just appreciation of the utility of 
knowledge, and the higher motives already detailed, 
could scarcely find a lodgment in the tender mind. It 
seems to be, therefore, an indisputable dictate of our 
very nature, that both these principles should be early 
employed as incentives. 

If, then, the desire of the approval of parents and 
teachers, — tJie desire of advancement, — tJic desire to be 
nsefiil, — a7id the desire to do right, can be superadded 
to the natiwal love i7i the child for acquisition, and a 



l80 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

natural desire to knozv, there will, as I believe, be but 
little occasion to look further for incentives to exertion 
in the pupil ; and I may venture to add, as a scholmm 
to what has already been said, that the teacher who 
has not yet learned to call into exercise these higher 
motives, and to rely for success mainly upon them, and 
who dares not abandon the system of exciting stimulants 
for fear of a failure, Jias yet much to learn as a true edu- 
cator of tJie young. 

TOPICAL OUTLINE 

Preface. 

1. A school interested in its duties is a school easily 

governed. 

2. The interest awakened should serve for self-education 

throughout life. 

3. Artificial interest in studies is a mistake. 

Read: Bain's Education as a Science, pp. 112, 113. 
White's School Management, pp. 130-148. 
Putnam's Manual of Pedagogics, pp. 215- 
217. 

4. Never appeal to a low motive if a higher one can be 

aroused. 

I. Emulation. 

1. Difference of opinion due to definition. 

2. Define emulation in its good sense. 

3. Define emulation in its bad sense. 

4. State the arguments for and against emulation in the 

latter sense. 

Read: Bain's Education as a Science, pp. 112, 113. 

Stewart's Philosophy of the Active and 

Moral Powers of Man (Walker), pp. 49- 

56. 

Compayre's Lectures on Pedagogy, pp. 448- 

453- 
II. Prizes. 

1 . Page's conclusion. 

2. His arguments. 



EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY l8l 

(i) The prize outshines worthier objects. 

(2) Engenders rivalry and ill will. 

(3) Stimulates a few onl}^ 

(4) There is danger of unjust awards. 

a. Dae to unequal facilities of contestants. 

b. Pupils are tempted to dishonorable practices. 

(5) The prize rewards success and talent ; not effort 

and worthiness. 

(6) Without prizes the pupil lacks motive for self- 

improvement. 

(7) Minimizes the example of some of the best students. 
3. Rewards. 

Read: White's School Management, pp. 133-140. 

Putnam's Manual of Pedagogics, pp. 215-217. 
III. Proper Incentives. 

1. The desire to gain the approbation of parents and 

teachers. The danger line.'* 

2. A desire for advancement. 

3. The pleasure of acquisition. 

4. The desire to be useful. 

5. A desire to do right. 

Read: White's School Management, pp. 130-190. 

SUBJECTS FOR DISCUSSION OR ESSAYS 

1. Natural and Artificial Incentives. 

White's School Management, pp. 130-190. 
Spencer's Education, Chap. III. 

2. How to awaken Interest and secure Attention. 

Putnam's Manual of Pedagogics, Chap. X. 
Baldwin's School Management, pp. 299-306. 
Hughes's Securing and Retaining Attention. 



CHAPTER X 

SCHOOL GOVERNMENT 

We have children to obey us in order that they may learn how 
to obey themselves. Obedience to others is the first lesson in self- 
obedience. He that has never learned how to obey others will 
never learn how to obey himself or God. No school government is 
possible without obedience to authority. 

It is not necessary that any space in this work should 
be occupied in speaking of the importance of order in our 
schools. Everybody who has written or spoken on this 
subject, has conceded the necessity of obedience on the 
part of the pupil. ''Order is heaven's first law ; " and 
it is scarcely more essential to the harmony of heaven, 
than it is to the happiness and success of the school. 

If such be the necessity of order in the school, then 
the ability to secure and maintain it is no mean part of 
the qualification of the good teacher. It is lamentable 
that so many fail in this particular; and yet this fre- 
quent failure can in most cases be traced to some defect 
in the constitutional temperament, or some deficiency 
in the mental or moral culture of the teacher himself. 
It shall be my first object, then, to point out some of the 

SECTION I. — requisites IN THE TEACHER FOR GOOD 
GOVERNMENT 

I. Self-government. — It has frequently been said 
that no man can govern others till he has learned to 
govern himself. I have no doubt of the truth of this. 

182 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT 1 83 

If an individual is not perfectly self-possessed, his 
decisions must fail to command respect. The self- 
government of the teacher should be complete, in the 
following particulars : 

1. As to the passion of anger. The exhibition of 
anger always detracts from the weight of authority. A 
man under its influence is not capable of doing strict 
justice to his pupils. Before entering upon teaching, 
therefore, a man should somehow obtain the mastery 
over his temper, so that under any provocation he can 
control it. He should consider that in school his 
patience will often be severely tried. He should not 
expect, indeed, that the current of affairs in school will 
for a single day run perfectly smooth. He should, 
therefore, prepare for the worst, and firmly resolve 
that, whatever unpleasant thing shall occur, it shall 
not take him entirely by surprise. Such forethought 
will give him self-command. If, however, from his 
past experience, and from the nature of his tempera- 
ment, he is satisfied he cannot exercise this self-control, 
he may be assured he is the wrong man to engage in 
teaching. A man who has not acquired thorough 
ascendency over his own passions, is an unsafe man 
to be intrusted with the government of children. 

2. As to levity and moroseness of manner. Either 
extreme is to be avoided. There are some teachers 
who exhibit such a frivolity in all their intercourse 
with their pupils, that they can never command them 
with authority, or gain their cordial respect. This is a 
grievous fault; and the teacher should at once find 
an antidote for it, by serious reflection upon the respon- 
sibility of his position. If this will not cure it, nothing 
else can. 



1 84 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

There are others who are characterized by a perpet- 
ual peevishness, so that a pleasant word from them is in- 
deed a strange thing. They can never expect to gain 
the affections of their pupils ; and without securing the 
love of children, the government of them will never be 
of the right kind. This habit of snappishness should be 
broken up at once. 

There are some very young teachers, who sometimes 
assume one or the other of these peculiar modes of ad- 
dress, or perhaps both, to be used alternately, — fancy- 
ing that they will gain popularity by the one, or give 
themselves greater authority by the other. This is a 
very mistaken notion ; for children have more discern- 
ment than most men give them credit for, and they 
usually see directly through such a flimsy disguise, — 
and the teacher becomes ridiculous rather than great in 
their estimation, whenever he takes any such false posi- 
tion. 

Mr. Abbott, in his '' Teacher," states a fact which 
well illustrates this point. '' Many years ago," says he, 
*' when I was a child, the teacher of the school where 
my early studies were performed, closed his connection 
with the establishment, and, after a short vacation, an- 
other was expected. On the appointed day the boys 
began to collect, some from curiosity, at an early hour, 
and many speculations were started as to the character 
of the new instructor. We were standing near a table 
with our hats on, — and our position, and the exact ap- 
pearance of the group is indelibly fixed on my memory, 
— when a small and youthful-looking man entered the 
room and walked up toward us. Supposing him to be 
some stranger, or rather, not making any supposition at 
all, we stood looking at him as he approached, and were 



w 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT 1 85 

thunderstruck at hearing hmi accost us with a stern 
voice, and sterner brow : * Take off your hats ! Take 
off your hats, and go to your seats.' The conviction 
immediately rushed upon our minds that this must be 
the new teacher. The first emotion was that of surprise, 
and the second was that of the ludicrous ; though I be- 
lieve we contrived to smother the laugh until we got out 
into the open air." 

The true rule is to act the part which is agreeable to 
nature. The teacher having gained the self-command 
just insisted upon, and having in him the spirit of kind- 
ness and a desire to be useful, should assume nothing 
unnatural for effect. His manner should be truly dig- 
nified, but courteous. 

3. As to /lis treatment of those pupils that are marked 
by some peculiarity. There will usually be some pupils 
who are very backward, and perhaps very dull, — or who 
may have some physical defect, or some mental eccen- 
tricity. The teacher should be able to govern himself 
in all his remarks concerning such pupils. He should 
avoid allusion to such singularities before the school ; 
and it is the height of injustice — I was about to say, 
of malevolence — for him ever to use those low and 
degrading epithets so often found upon the teacher's 
tongue, — such as dunce, thickskull, and the like. Is 
it not misfortune enough for a child to be backward or 
dull, without having the pain and mortification increased 
by the cruelty of an unfeeling teacher } The teacher 
should take a special interest in such children ; he 
should endeavor to enter into the feelings of their par- 
ents, and to treat them in such a way as to encourage 
rather than crush them. 

11. A CONFIDENCE IN HIS ABILITY TO GOVERN. We 



1 86 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

can generally do what we firmly believe we can do. At 
any rate, a man is more likely to succeed in any enter- 
prise, when he has the feeling of self-reliance. The 
teacher, by reflection upon the importance of good gov- 
ernment to his success, and by a careful study of the 
means to be employed and the motives to be presented, 
should be able to bring himself to the determination to 
have good order in his school, and so fully to believe he 
can have it, that his pupils shall detect no misgivings in 
him on this point. Whenever they discover that he has 
doubts of his success in governing, they will be far more 
ready to put his skill to the test. It would be better 
that a young teacher should decline to take a difficult 
school, rather than enter it without the full belief of his 
ability to succeed. I would not wish to be understood 
by these remarks to be encouraging an unreasonable 
and blUid presumption. A confidence in one's ability 
should be founded upon a reasonable estimate of his 
powers, compared with the difficulties to be overcome. 
What I recommend is, that the teacher should carefully 
weigh the difficulties, and candidly judge of his own re- 
sources, and then undertake nothing which he thinks is 
beyond his ability. If, after this, he believes he can suc- 
ceed, other things being equal, success is almost certain. 
III. Just views of Government. — i. It is not 
tyranny, exercised to please the one who governs, or to 
promote his own convenience. The despot commands for 
the sake of being obeyed. But government in its proper 
sense is an arrangement for \\i^ general good, — for the 
benefit of the governed as well as of the ruler. That is 
not good government which seeks any other object. The 
teacher should so view the matter ; and in establishing 
any regulations in school, he should always inquire 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT 1 8/ 

whether they are suggested by a selfish regard to his 
own ease, or whether they spring from a sincere and 
disinterested wish to promote the improvement of the 
school. 

2. He should see the necessity of making the govern- 
ment tcnifonn ; that is, the same from day to day. If 
he punishes to-day what he tolerates to-morrow, he 
cannot expect the cordial respect of his pupils. Some 
teachers, not having learned the art of self-government, 
take counsel too much of their own feelijigs. To-day 
they are in good health and spirits, and their faces are 
clothed in sniisJiine ; they can smile at anything. To- 
morrow, suffering under bad digestion, or the want of 
exercise, or the want of sleep, the thunder-storm hovers 
about their brow, ready to burst upon the first offender. 
Woe to the luckless wight who does not seasonably dis- 
cover this change in the condition of the weather. A 
teacher cannot long respect himself who is thus capri- 
cious; he may be sure his school will not long respect 
him. 

3. He should so view government as to make it eqtial ; 
that is, equal in its application to the whole school, — 
the large as well as small scholars, the males as well as 
females. This is often a great fault with teachers. 
They raise up a sort of aristocracy in their schools, a 
privileged class, a miniature nobility. They will insist 
that the little boys and girls shall abstain from cer- 
tain practices, — whispering, for instance, — and most 
promptly punish the offenders, while they tolerate the 
same thing among the larger pupils. This is cowardly 
in itself, and as impolitic as it is cowardly. The teacher 
makes a great mistake who begins his government with 
the sm^all children, in the hope of frightening the larger 



1 88 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

ones into obedience. He should have the manliness and 
the justice to begin with the larger pupils ; the smaller 
ones never resist, when authority is established with 
those above them. Besides this, the very class who are 
thus indulged, are the very ones who soonest despise, 
and justly too, the authority of the teacher. 

He should make his government impartial in every 
respect. He should have no favorites — no preferences 
based upon the outward circumstances of the child, his 
family, or his personal attractions, and the like. The 
rich and the poor should be alike to the teacher. He 
should remember that each child has a soul; and it is 
with the soul, and not with the wealth of this world, 
that he has to do. He should remember that a gem, 
as bright as a sunbeam, is often concealed under a rough 
exterior. It should be his work, nay his delight — ^to 
bring out this gem from its hiding place, and apply 
to it the polish of a ''workman that needeth not to be 
ashamed." 

IV. Just views of the Governed. — Notwithstand- 
ing the imperfection of human nature, as developed in 
the young, they have some redeeming qualities. They 
are intelligent and reasonable beings. They have more 
or less love of approbation ; they have affection, and, 
above all, they have a moral sense. All these qualities 
are considerably developed before they enter the school. 
The teacher should remember this, and prepare himself 
to address, as far as may be, all these. Love of appro- 
bation, as we have before seen, is not an unworthy mo- 
tive to be addressed, and it is well known that many 
children are very easily controlled by it. It is not the 
highest motive, to be sure, nor is it the lowest. The 
affection for a teacher, which many children will exer- 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT 189 

cise, is one of the most powerful instrumentalities in 
governing them with ease. The conscience, early trained, 
is all-powerful. I allude to these principles of action 
once more, in order to say that the peculiar character 
of each should be well studied by the teacher. He 
should understand the human mind so well as to be 
able to find the avenues to these better parts of the 
child's nature, remembering that whenever several ways 
are presented of doing the same thing, it is always wise 
to choose the best. 

V. Decision and Firmness. — By decision, I mean 
a readiness to determine and to act in any event just 
as duty seems to dictate ; a willingness to take the re- 
sponsibility just as soon as the way is plain. By firm- 
ness, is meant that fixedness of purpose which resolutely 
carries out a righteous decision. Both of these qualities 
are essential to good government in the teacher. Much 
time is often lost by a teacher's vacillating when action 
is more important. Besides, if the pupils discover that 
the teacher hesitates, and dreads to take any responsi- 
bility, they very soon lose their respect for him. I would 
not urge that a teacher should act Iiastily. He never 
should decide till he is confident he decides right ; any 
delay is better than hasty error. But his delay, in all 
matters of government, should have reference to a true 
knowledge of his duty ; when that is clearly known, he 
should be decided. 

Many teachers suffer in their government for want 
of firmness. They act upon the principle of personal 
convenience, as did the unjust judge mentioned in the 
parable. " And he would not for a while ; but after- 
wards he said within himself. Though I fear not God 
nor regard man ; yet because this zvidow tronbleth me, I 



1 90 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

will arise and avenge her, lest by her continual coming 
she weary me.'' How often we hear something like 
this in the schoolroom. "May I go and drink?" — 
says James, in a pecuHarly imploring tone. '' No," says 
the teacher, promptly, and evidently without any reflec- 
tion as to the decision he has made. James very com- 
posedly sits down, eying the countenance of the teacher 
expressively, as much as to say, ''I'll try you again 
soon." Before long he observes the teacher quite busy 
with a class, and he again pops the question : " May I 
go and drink .'* " 

Stung at the moment with impatience at the inter- 
ruption, the teacher answers instantly and emphatically, 
" No, no, James; sit down." 

James still watches his teacher's expression, and can- 
not discover there any signs of a mind seeking the path 
of duty, and he silently thinks to himself, " The third 
time never fails." So, after a minute or two, when the 
teacher is somewhat puzzled with a knotty question, 
and is on the point of nibbing a pen besides, — '' May 
I go and drink, sir f again rings upon the teacher's 
ear. *' Yes, yes, yes ! do go along ; / suppose you'll 
keep asking till y oil get it." 

Now James goes to drink, and then returns to philoso- 
phize upon this matter, perhaps as follows : " I don't 
believe he stopped to think whether I needed drink or 
not ; therefore hereafter I shall never believe he really 
means «<?, when he says it. He acts without thought. 
I have also found that if I will but ask several times I 
shall get it. So I shall know how to proceed next time." 
— I do not know that any child would express this 
thought in so many words ; but the impression upon 
his mind is none the less distinct 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT I9I 

Now the teacher should carefully consider the ques- 
tion addressed to him. How long since this child had 
water ? Can it be necessary for him to drink so often ? 
Then let the answer be given mildly, but decidedly — 
'* No, James." 

The very manner, quite likely, will settle the ques- 
tion, so that James will not ask again. The answer 
once given should h^ Jinnly adhered to. It would even 
be better that James should suffer for the want of water 
than for the want of confidence in his teacher's firmness. 
In this way the teacher would establish his word with 
the school in a very few days; and his pupils would 
soon learn that with him "no" means ''no," and "yes" 
means "yes" — a matter of no small importance to 
the teacher of a school, 

VI. Deep Moral Principle. — The teacher should 
ever be a conscientious man ; and in nothing is this 
more necessary than in the exercise of good govern- 
ment. In this matter the teacher can never respect 
himself when he acts from caprice or selfishness. His 
inquiry should be, What is right.? What is justice — 
justice to my pupils — to myself.-^ And if he could 
add to moral obligation the high sanctions of rehgious 
principle, and could habitually and sincerely turn his 
thoughts to his Maker, with the heartfelt inquiry — 
What wilt THOU have me to do.'' — then he would sel- 
dom err in the discharge of this trust. His pupils, 
seeing that he acted from fixed and deep principle, 
would respect his honesty, even if he should cross their 
desires. 

Having now dwelt at some length upon the requisites 
171 the teacJiei' for good government, I shall next proceed 
to present some of the 



192 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 



SECTION II. MEANS OF SECURING GOOD ORDER 

I. Be careful as to the first impression you 
MAKE. — It is an old proverb, that '' what is well begun 
is half done." This holds true in school keeping, and 
particularly in school government. The young study 
character very speedily and very accurately. Perhaps 
no one pupil could express in words an exact estimate 
of a teacher's character after a week's acquaintance ; 
but yet the whole school has received an impression 
which is not far from the truth. A teacher, then, is 
very unwise who attempts to assume to be anything 
which he is not. He should ever be frank; and in 
commencing a school he should begin as he can hold 
out. Any assumption of an authoritative tone is espe- 
cially ill judged. The pupils at once put themselves in 
an attitude of resistance when this is perceived by them. 

A teacher should ever remember that among children 

— however it may be among adults — respect always 
precedes attachment. If he would gain the love of the 
children, he must first be worthy of their respect. He 
should therefore act deliberately, and always conscien- 
tiously. He should be firm but never petulant. It is 
very important at the outset that he should be truly 
courteous and affable. It is much wiser to request than 
to command, at least until the request has been disre- 
garded. There are usually two ways of doing a thing, 

— a gentle and a rough way. " John, go and shut that 
door," in a gruff tone, is one way to have a door closed. 
John will undoubtedly go and shut the door — perhaps 
with a slain, — but he will not thank the teacher for the 
rough tones used in commanding it. Now it costs no 
more time or breath to say, "John, I'll thank you if 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT 1 93 

you will shut that door." Most cheerfully will John 
comply with the request, and he is grateful that he has 
heard these tones of kindness. If he could but know 
the teacher's wishes afterward, he would gladly perform 
them unasked. I would by no means recommend the 
adoption of the fawning tone of the sycophant by the 
teacher. He should be manly and dignified ; but the lan- 
guage of that courtesy which springs from real kindness, 
and which ever becomes the gentleman, is always the 
most suitable as well as most expedient for him. 

II. Avoid exhibiting or entertaining a suspi- 
cious SPIRIT. — It is a maxim of law, that one charged 
with crime is always to be presumed innocent until 
proved guilty. This should be a maxim with the 
teacher who would govern well. There is no more 
direct way of making a school vicious, than by showing 
them that you suspect they are so. A good reputation 
is dear to all ; and even a bad boy will be restrained 
from wicked acts as long as he thinks you give him 
credit for good intentions. But if he finds that he has 
lost your good opinion, he feels that he has nothing 
further to lose by being as bad as you suspect him to 
be. A teacher is wise, therefore, if he tries to see 
something good even in a vicious pupil. It may be, as 
it often has been, the means of saving such a pupil. I 
have known a very depraved boy entirely reformed in 
school, by his teacher's letting him know that he had 
noticed some good traits in his character. He after- 
ward told his teacher that " he had been so often sus- 
pected to be a villain, that he had almost come to the 
conclusion that he would be one ; but that, when he 
found one man who could do him the justice to give 
him credit for a few good feelings — (for he knew he 

B.-P. THE. & PR. TEACHING — I^ 



194 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

had them) — he at once determined to show that man 
that his confidence had not been misplaced ; and that 
he would sooner die than knowingly offend the only 
person who ever had understood him." 

It is wise sometimes, not only to withhold the expres- 
sion of suspicion, but to give some token of your con- 
fidence to the pupil who is troublesome. Intrust him 
with some errand involving responsibility, or assign to 
him some duty by way of assistance to yourself, and 
very likely you will gain his good will ever after. This 
is founded upon the well-known principle in human 
nature acted upon by Dr. Franklin, who, when he 
would gain his enemy, asked him to do him a favor. 

III. As SOON AS POSSIBLE GIVE REGULAR AND FULL 

EMPLOYMENT. — It is an old proverb that " Idleness is 
the mother of mischief." The nursery hymn also con- 
tains a living truth — 

" And Satan finds some mischief still 
For idle hands to do.'' 

It is the law of a child's nature to be active; and as 
the teacher is placed in the school to give direction to 
such minds, he can hardly complain of their going upon 
forbidden objects unless he seasonably provides some- 
thing better for them to do. 

Very early, then, the teacher should endeavor to 
classify his school and furnish constant and full em- 
ployment — either of study, recitation, or relaxation — 
for every hour in the day. The teacher should have a 
plan when he opens the school, and the sooner it is car- 
ried into full operation the better.^ Besides, when a 
teacher has given employment, he has a right to insist 
upon the pupil's being engaged in study. Nobody will 

1 See chap. XL of this work. 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT 



95 



question this right ; and it is far more profitable to re- 
quire a positive duty than to enjoin a negative, — such 
as abstinence from whispering or from mischief in 
general. 

IV. Make but few rules. — It is a very common 
thing for teachers to embarrass themselves by a long 
code of requirements and prohibitions. Some go so 
far as to write out a system of laws, and, annexing to 
each the penalty for its infringement, post them up in 
a conspicuous place in the schoolroom. Others content 
themselves with a verbal announcement of them, and 
rely upon the memories of the pupils to retain the 
details of them and to govern themselves accordingly. 
This, it seems to me, is a great mistake. The multi- 
plicity of specific rules for the government of a school, 
will naturally lead to a multiplicity of offenses. Chil- 
dren will be confused by the varying and sometimes 
conflicting demand of a formidable code of regulations, 
and in endeavoring to avoid Scylla will be likely to fall 
into Charybdis. It is believed by some honest states- 
men that "the world has been governed too much;" 
and it is often alleged in support of this belief that 
successful compliance with the laws requires far more 
wisdom than was displayed in making them ; that is, 
the science of obedience is far more abstruse than the 
science of legislation ! Whether this be true in the 
civil world or not I shall not attempt to decide ; I will 
only say that such has too often been the fact in the 
schoolroom. 

It is in my opinion the part of wisdom, and I think 
also the teaching of experience, that it is best to make 
but few rules. The great rule of duty, quoted once 
before, " Do unto others as you would that they should 



196 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

do to you," comprises quite enough to begin with. The 
direction — Do right, is a very comprehensive one. 
There is in children an abiUty to distinguish between 
right and wrong, upon which the teacher may ever 
rely ; and by insisting upon this as the standard, he 
daily brings into exercise the conscience of the child, 
who is called upon to decide. Is this right? Besides, 
if a school is to be governed by a code of laws, the 
pupils will act upon the principle that whatever is not 
proscribed is admissible. Consequently without in- 
quiring whether an act is right, their only inquiry will 
be, Is it forbidden ? Now no teacher was ever yet so 
wise as to make laws for every case ; the consequence 
is, he is daily perplexed with unforeseen troubles, or 
with some ingenious evasions of his inflexible code. In 
all this matter the worst feature is the fact that the 
child judges of his acts by the lazv of the teacher rather 
than by the lazv of his conscience, and is thus in danger 
of perverting and blunting the moral sense. 

To this it may be added that the teacher will often 
find himself very much perplexed in attempting to 
judge the acts of his pupils by fixed laws, and in 
awarding to all violations of them a prescribed penalty. 
Cases will frequently occur in which two scholars will 
offend against a given prohibition, with altogether dif- 
ferent intentions, — the one having a good motive and 
forgetting the law ; the other with the law in his mind 
and having a wicked design to violate it. Now the 
written code with its prescribed penalty allows the 
teacher no discretion. He must maintain his law and 
punish both offenders, and thus violate his own sense 
of justice ; or he must pass both by, and thus violate 
his word. He cannot excuse the one and punish the 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT K^'J 

other, as justice would evidently demand, without set- 
ting at naught his own laws. 

An example will illustrate this point. A teacher has 
made a rule that *' any child who whispers without 
leave shall be fcriilcd'' Now two httle boys sit side 
by side. William is an amiable, obedient, and diligent 
little boy, who has never violated intentionally any 
wish of his teacher ; while Charles is a sour-tempered, 
vicious, unprincipled fellow, who a dozen times within 
a week has sought to make his teacher trouble. Little 
John, who sits near to WilHam, drops his pencil, and it 
falls under William's desk. John looks for his pencil 
on the right and left of his seat, grows anxious and 
perplexed. William has noticed him, and he carefully 
picks up the pencil while he perhaps is looking for it 
in another direction, — and with the kind intention of 
relieving his neighbor's anxiety and restoring his prop- 
erty, he touches his elbow, and softly whispers, '' Here 
is your pencil, John," — then immediately resumes his 
own studies, and ns probably entirely unconscious that 
he has violated any law. At the same instant the art- 
ful Charles, half conceaHng his face with his hand, with 
his wary eye turned to the teacher, willfully addresses 
another pupil on some point in no way connected with 
study or duty. The teacher sees both these cases, and 
calls the offenders to his desk. The one trembles, and 
wonders what he has done amiss, while the other per- 
haps prepares himself to deny his offense, and thus to 
add falsehood to his other sins. The rule awards to 
both the fenilc. It is applied to Charles with energy, 
and with the conviction that he deserves it ; but I ask, 
can a man with any sense of justice raise his hand to 
punish WilHam } If so, I see not how he can ever 



198 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

again hold converse with his own conscience. Yet the 
rule allows him no discretion. He must violate either 
the rule or his conscience ; and too often in such cases 
he chooses the latter alternative. 

Now my advice is, make but few rules, and never 
multiply them till circumstances demand it. The rule 
of right will usually be sufficient without any special 
legislation ; and it has this advantage, that it leaves 
the teacher the largest discretion. 

I have been thus full on this point, because so many 
fail here, and especially young teachers. It has cost 
many a young teacher much bitter experience to make 
this discovery for himself ; and I have desired to save 
others who may hereafter engage in teaching, the pain 
and perplexity which they may so easily and so safely 
avoid. 

For similar reasons I should also urge that the 
teacher should avoid the too common practice of threat- 
ening in his school. Threatening is usually resorted to 
as a means of frightening children into their duty, — 
and, too often, threats are made without any expecta- 
tion of a speedy necessity either to execute or disregard 
them. The consequence is, they are usually more ex- 
travagant than the reality, and the teacher's word soon 
passes at a discount ; his threats are viewed as very 
much like the barking of a dog which has no intention 
to bite. As threatening is moreover the language of 
impatience, it almost always leads to a loss of respect. 

V. Wake up mind in the school, and in the dis- 
trict. — There is usually but very little trouble in 
government where the scholars are deeply engaged in 
their studies or school exercises, and especially if at the 
same time the feelings of the parents are enlisted. To 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT 199 

this end I would recommend that early attention should 
be given to some efforts to ivake up mind, such as have 
been described in a former section of this work. It 
will be found, when skillfully conducted, one of the 
most successful instrumentalities in aid of good order 
and good feeling in the school. 

An ingenious teacher, too, may introduce other varie- 
ties into the school exercises, and thus sometimes turn 
the attention of discontented pupils from some evil 
design to give him trouble. So long as the teacher 
keeps steadily the main object of his school in view, 
namely, progress in the studies, he is excusable if occa- 
sionally, to break up monotony and excite a deeper 
interest, he introduces a well-considered new plan of 
study or of recitation. Indeed, much of his success 
will depend upon his power to do this, and in nothing 
will its advantages appear more obviously than in the 
government of the school. A great portion of the dis- 
order and insubordination in our schools has its origin 
in a want of interest in the school exercises. He is the 
successful teacher and the successful disciplinarian who 
can excite and maintain the necessary interest. 

As one of these varieties, I may mention the exercise 
of vocal music in school. I have already alluded to it. 
As a means of keeping alive the interest in a school, it 
is very important. Music is the language of the heart, 
and though capable of being grossly perverted — (and 
what gift of God is not.'') — its natural tendency is to 
elevate the affections, to soothe the passions, and to 
refine the taste. 

''The Germans have a proverb," says Bishop Potter, 
"which has come down from the days of Luther, that 
where music is not, the devil enters. As David took 



200 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

his harp, when he would cause the evil spirit to depart 
from Saul, so the Germans employ it to expel the 
obduracy from the hearts of the depraved. In their 
schools for the reformation of juvenile offenders (and 
the same remark might be applied to those of our own 
country), music has been found one of the most effec- 
tual means of inducing docility among the stubborn and 
vicious. It would seem that so long as any remains of 
humanity linger in the heart, it retains its susceptibility 
to music. And as proof that music is more powerful 
for good than for evil, is it not worthy of profound con- 
sideration that in all the intimations which the Bible 
gives us of a future world music is associated only with 
the employments and happiness of Heaven } " 

Almost any teacher can introduce music into his 
school ; because if he cannot sing, he will always find 
that it will only require a little encouragement to induce 
the scholars to undertake to conduct it themselves. It 
will consume but very little time, and it is always that 
time which, if not employed in singing, would other- 
wise be unemployed or misemployed. It is the united 
testimony of all who have judiciously introduced sing- 
ing into their schools, that it is among the best instru- 
mentalities for the promotion of good feeling and good 
order. 

VI. Visit the parents of your scholars. — I shall 
more particularly enjoin this, when I speak of the 
teachers relation to his patrons [Chap. XII.], but I can- 
not forbear in this place to urge it upon the teacher 
as one of the means of securing good order in school. 
A great deal of the insubordination in our schools 
arises from some misunderstanding, or some dislike 
entertained by the parent toward the teacher, and 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT 201 

Spoken of in presence of the children. Whatever the 
pupils hear at home they will be likely to exemplify in 
school. It should be the teacher's first object to become 
acquainted with the parent, and to let him understand, 
by a personal interview, all his plans and aims for the 
improvement of the school. This can be done best at 
the parent's own fireside. It has often happened that 
by a friendly visit of an Aour by the teacher the parent's 
heart has been softened, his prejudices removed, his 
cooperation gained, and the cheerful and cordial obedi- 
ence of his children in school secured. 

These visits should of course be made in the true 
spirit of the teacher. They should be made in the 
honest desire of his heart to render his labors more suc- 
cessful. A visit made in such a spirit seldom fails to 
make the parents personal friends ever after ; and of 
course in case of a collision afterward between him 
and their children, this is a very important point. 

VII. Registers of Credits. — Registers of the stand- 
ing of pupils in their schools and their classes are very 
highly recommended by some whose experience is en- 
titled to confidence. I am inclined to place this among 
the means of securing good order. I would recommend, 
however, that they should be registers of credits only. 
Some recommend the use of " black marks,'' that is, 
the record of prominent faults and perhaps of punish- 
ments. My own experience teaches me that this is 
unwise. The teacher should not show a willingness to 
record and publish the faults of a pupil. He should, 
on the contrary, show a tender regard for his reputa- 
tion. Besides, the child is less likely to be mindful of 
his duty when his reputation is already blackened by his 
teacher. If registers are to be kept at all, they should 



202 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

record the successes and virtues of the child rather than 
his failures and faults. And if, at the end of a week or 
a month, he is furnished with an abstract for the inspec- 
tion of his parents, let it be so much of good character 
as he has earned for hirpself during the specified time. 

I confess I am less sanguine than many others as to 
the utility of the register, as an incentive either to obe- 
dience or to diligence ; but if used at all, I think the 
above restriction is highly important. 

VIII. Avoid governing too much. — By this I would 
be understood to urge upon the teacher the fact that 
his niain business in school is instruction and not govern- 
ment. Government is a means and not the end of school 
keeping. A very judicious and practical teacher — Mr. 
R. S. Howard — has well remarked: ''The real object 
to be accomplished, the real end to be obtained in school, 
is to assist the pupil in acquiring knowledge, — to edu- 
cate the mind and heart. To effect this, good order is 
very necessary. But when order is made to take the 
place of industry, and discipline the place of instruction, 
where the time of both teacher and pupils is mostly 
spent in watching each other, very little good will be 
accomplished." 

It is a mistake that many teachers fall into, that they 
seem to regard government as their chief occupation ; 
and, as we should naturally expect in such cases, it is 
often very poorly exercised. That is not the best gov- 
ernment which is maintained as a matter of formal busi- 
ness. The noiseless undercurrent is far more efficient. 
I have always noticed that men govern best when they 
do not seem to govern ; and those who make most effort 
and bustle about it themselves are pretty sure to have 
the most boisterous schools. 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT , 203 

I once in company with a friend officially visited a 
school where the teacher, a man of strong frame — six 
feet high, and with lungs in proportion^ was laboring to 
keep order. Every word he uttered was in a stento- 
rian voice which would have been painful to the pupils 
in a quiet room ; hence, they took care to keep up a 
constant clattering of books, slates, and rulers, mingled 
with the constant hum of their own voices, as if for 
self-defense. It seemed to be a mighty effort of each 
party to rise if possible above the noise of the other. 
''Silence! Order! I say," was constantly ejaculated in 
a voice that was almost sufficient, as Shakespeare's Ham- 
let would say, to "split the ears of the groundlings." 

One of the most ludicrous scenes I ever witnessed 
occurred in this school during an exercise in English 
grammar. The class occupied the back seats, while 
the teacher stood by the desk in front of the school. 
The children between the teacher and his class were 
variously employed, — some manufacturing paper fly 
boxes, some ivhittling the benches — (it was in New 
England) ; some were trying their skill at a spitball 
warfare ; others were making voyages of exploration 
beneath the seats. The school, consisting of some 
seventy pupils, were as busy as the occupants of an 
ant-hill. The sentence to be parsed was, *' A good boy 
loves study." No written description can present the 
scene as it was acted in real life. 

It should be borne in mind that every word spoken 
by the teacher, whether to the class or to the school, 
was in a tone of voice which might have been heard 
at least an eighth of a mile, and that every exclamation 
was accompanied by several energetic thumps of a large 
oaken ''rule'' upon the lid of his desk. The language 



204 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

of the teacher is in italics. '' Mary, parse A'' "A is 
an indefinite " — " Silence ! Order there!'' — "article, 
and is prefixed to " — ''John ! " — '' No, sir, it is pre- 
fixed to'' — '' Martha, Martha! sit np" — ''\\. is pre- 
fixed to — boy." — " Right. — Good, next." — " Good is 
an adjective," — ''Order, Order, Order!" — thump, 
thump, thump ! — " Go on, go on, I hear you ! " — thump, 
thump ! — " and belongs to " — *' Speak louder ! Sit up 
there! What are you, doing? And belongs to?"- — 
" boy." — " The RiUe. The Rule ! / say." — Here sev- 
eral children looked earnestly at the piece of timber he 
held in his hand. — " The Rule, sir, the Rule ! " — thump, 
thump! — "You've got it in your hand," vociferated a 
little harmless-looking fellow on the front seat, while 
the scholar proceeded to recite the rule. — " Adjectives 
belong to " — "Lazy, lazy fellozv ! sit up there." — Here 
the class smiled, and the scholar completed his rule, 
asserting however that "adjectives belong to nouns," 
and not to " lazy fellozus" as the class seemed to under- 
stand the master to teach. Word after word was passed 
in this way (a way of teaching our language, which, if 
we could know it had been practiced at the erection of 
Babel, would sufficiently account for that memorable 
confusion of tongues without the intervention of a mira- 
cle), till the teacher, nearly exhausted by this strange 
combination of mental, oral, and manual labor, very 
much to the relief of all, vociferated, "TJiat'll do!" 
and the scene was changed. 

At the close of the afternoon we were told that " it 
was a very hard school, that it was almost impossible 
to keep order, and that he should be discouraged were 
it not that he saw a manifest improvement within a few 
days past ! " 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT 20 5 

Now this teacher made the school what it was, by his 
own manner. He would have done the same in any 
school. He taught in the most effectual way the sci- 
ence and art of confusion ; and notwithstanding the 
hard name he gave his school, he was emphatically the 
most disorderly and noisy member of it. 

There was a change. On another day, accompanied 
by the same friend, we presented ourselves at the door 
of this same room for admittance. We heard no sound 
as we approached the entrance, and almost began to 
suspect we should find there was no school within. We 
knocked ; and presently, without our hearing the foot- 
step of the person who approached, the door opened, 
and we passed in. The children looked up a moment 
as we entered, and then bent their eyes upon their les- 
sons. The teacher softly handed us seats, and then 
proceeded with the recitation. His manner was quiet 
and deliberate, and the school was orderly and busy. 
He had no rule in his hand, no heavy boots on his 
feet (he had exchanged them for slippers on entering 
the school), and no other means of giving emphasis to 
his words. He kindly requested, — never commanded, 
— and everything seemed to present the strongest con- 
trast with the former scene. The hour of dismission 
arrived and the scholars quietly laid by their books, 
and as quietly walked out of the house, and all was 
still. 

*' How have you secured this good order .? " said we 
to the teacher. '' I really do not know," said he with 
a smile,"! have said nothing about order." "But 
have you had no difficulty with noisy scholars .-^ " "A 
little at first ; but in a day or two they seemed to become 
quiet, and we have not been troubled since." 



206 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

Now the secret was that this latter teacher ha,d 
learned to govern himself. His own manner gave 
character to the school. So it will ever be. A man 
will govern more by his manner than in any other 
way. 

There is, too, such a thing as keeping a school too 
still by over-government. A man of firm nerve can, 
by keeping up a constant constraint both in himself and 
pupils, force a deathlike silence upon his school. You 
may hear a pin drop at any time, and the figure of every 
child is as if molded in cast iron. But, be it remem- 
bered, this is the stillness of constraint, not the stillness 
of activity. It is an unhealthy state both of body and 
mind, and when attained by the most vigilant care of 
the teacher, is a condition scarcely to be desired. There 
should be silence in school, a serene and soothing quiet ; 
but it should if possible be the quiet of cheerfulness 
and agreeable devotion to study, rather than the " palsy 
of fear." 

Thus far I have confined myself to those qualifica- 
tions in the teacher, and to those means which, under 
ordinary circumstances and in most districts, would in 
my opinion secure good order in our schools. With the 
qualifications I have described in the mental and moral 
condition of the teacher, and the means and sugges- 
tions above detailed — combined, I believe a very large 
majority of our schools could be most successfully 
governed without any appeal to feai'- or foire. 

But as some schools are yet in a very bad state, 
requiring more than ordinary talents and skill to control 
them ; and as very many of those who must teach for a 
long time to come have not and cannot be expected to 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT 20/ 

have all the qualifications described, and much less the 
moral power insisted on, it is unreasonable to expect, 
taking human nature as it is, and our teachers as they 
are, that all can govern their schools without some 
appeals to the lower motives of children, and some 
resort to coercion as an instrumentality. I should leave 
this discussion very incomplete, therefore, were I not 
to present my views upon the subject of 

SECTION III. — PUNISHMENTS 

As a great deal has been written and spoken upon 
the subject of school punishments, I deem it important 
that the term, as I intend to use it, should be defined at 
the outset. I submit the following definition : 

Punishment is pain inflicted upon the mind or 
body of an individual by the authority to which 
he is subject ; with a view either to reform him, 
or to deter others from the commission of of- 
fenses, or both. 

It is deemed essential to the idea of punishment that 
the inflictor have legitimate authority over the subject 
of it, — otherwise the act is an act of usurpation. It is 
also essential that the inflictor should have a legitimate 
object in view, such as the reformation of the individual 
or of the community in which his example has exerted 
an influence, — otherwise the act becomes an abuse of 
power. Infliction for the purpose of retaliation for an 
insult or injury is not punishment ; it is revenge. When- 
ever, therefore, a teacher resorts to such infliction to 
gratify his temper, or to pay off, as it is expressed in 
common language, the bad conduct of a pupil, without 
any regard to his reformation or the prevention of 
similar offenses in the school, the pain he inflicts is no: 



208 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

punishment ; it is cruelty. Very great importance is to 
be attached to the motive in this matter ; because the 
same infliction upon the same individual and for the 
same offense, either may be just and proper punish- 
ment, or it may be the most unjustifiable and revengeful 
abuse, according to the motive of the inflictor. 

The authority to inflict punishment in general is 
either by the constitution of God or of civil society. 
" The punishment of the faults and offenses of children 
by the parent," says Dr. Webster, ''is by virtue of the 
right of government with which the parent is invested 
by God himself." The right to punish the offenses of 
children while at school, is by the common law vested 
in the teacher, as the representative of the parent for 
the time being. It is the declaration of this law, as 
interpreted from time immemorial, that the teacher is 
in loco parentis — in place of the parent. 

Some have alleged that fear and shame, the two 
principles addressed by punishment, are among the 
lowest in our nature ; and have hence endeavored to 
show that punishment is always inexpedient, if not 
indeed always wrong. To this I answer that both fear 
and shame are incorporated in our nature by God him- 
self ; and hence I infer they are there for a wise pur- 
pose. I find, moreover, that God himself, in his word 
and in his providence, does appeal to both of these 
principles ; and hence I infer that punishment in the 
abstract is not wrong, and after the higher motives have 
been addressed not altogether inexpedient. 

Living in a community as we do where the right of 
punishment in general is assumed by our government, 
and the right of teachers to punish is conceded by our 
laws, I do not feel called upon to establish the right by 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT 209 

argument ; I shall assume that the teacher has the right 
to punish in the sense in which I have defined punish- 
ment, — and shall therefore proceed to consider the 
various kinds of punishments used in our schools, and 
to distinguish those which are justifiable from those 
which are not ; and also to consider some of the con- 
ditions and limitations of their use. 

In preparing the way to do this, I may remark that 
punishments consist of two classes: i. Those which 
address themselves directly to the mind ; as privation 
from privileges, loss of liberty, degradation, some act 
of humiliation, reproof, and the like. 2. Those which 
address the mind through the body ; as the imposition 
of a task — labor, for instance, — requiring the pupil to 
take some painful attitude, inflicting bodily chastise- 
ment, etc. 

I have mentioned these two classes for the purpose 
of calling attention to the fact that there are those 
who approve of the first class, and at the same time 
denounce the second, scouting the idea of reaching the 
mind through the senses of the body. This seems to 
me, however, to indicate a want of attention to the laws 
of our being ; for in the economy of nature we are 
made at every point sensitive to pain as a means of 
guarding against injury. Why has the Creator studded 
the entire surface of our bodies with the extremities of 
nerves whose function is to carry to the brain with 
lightning speed the intelligence of the approach of 
danger } And why should this intelligence be trans- 
mitted, if its object is not to influence the will, either 
to withdraw the suffering part from immediate danger, 
or to avoid those objects which cause the pain .^ The 
mind, then, by the economy of nature, or rather by the 

B.-P. THE. & PR. TEACHING — I4 



2IO THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

arrangement of God, is capable of being influenced 
through the bodily sensations ; and those who deny 
this, either do not observe attentively, or, observing, do 
not reason fairly as to the laws of our being. With 
these preliminary observations, I now proceed to con- 
sider 

I. Improper Punishments. — Some punishments are 
always wrong, or at least always inexpedient. The in- 
fliction of them either implies a wrong feeling on the 
part of the teacher, or it promises no wholesome result 
on the part of the pupil. I shall mention in detail, 
I. Those that from their nature excite tJie feeling in tJie 
pupil that an indignity has been committed against his 
person. No man is ready to forgive another for widng- 
ing his nose. There is almost a universal sentiment 
that this organ is specially exempted from such insult. 
Nearly the same feeling exists as to pinching or pulling 
the ear, or twisting the hair, or snapping the foreJiead. 
Each child feels that these parts of his person are not 
to be trifled with, and the feeling is natural and proper. 
Now, though it is not common for teachers to wring the 
noses of their pupils, it is very common for them to do 
each of the other things enumerated. I have often 
seen such punishments, but I think I never saw any 
good come of them. The pupil always looked as if the 
teacher had done despite toward his person. When- 
ever I have seen the teacher twist the locks of a child's 
hair about his finger till the tears would start in the eye, 
I have supposed the feelings called forth were anything 
but desirable, — anything but favorable to reformation. 
A pupil must love his teacher very strongly to be able 
to keep his temper from rising under such circum- 
stances ; and there is great doubt whether either of 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT 211 

these punishments does anything to secure cheerful 
obedience in the child one time in a hundred ; prob- 
ably in ninety-nine cases in the hundred the evil pas- 
sions are very much strengthened by them. Besides, 
these are undignified modes of punishment. They 
savor so much of a weak and childish impatience that 
the pupils find it hard to respect a man, much more to 
love him, who will stoop to so small a way of giving 
vent to his angry feelings. Snapping the forehead is 
subject to strong physiological objections; and, as a 
general rule, tJie head and its appurtenances should be 
exempted from penal violence. 

In this place I may very properly allude to another 
mode of assailing the ears of children, quite as undig- 
nified in itself and quite as unprofitable in its results as 
pulling them, — and until they are hardened to it by 
familiarity, probably more painful. I refer, I need not 
say, to scolding. This is a punishment altogether too 
common. There is a physiological law that the exer- 
cise of any organ will give it greater strength and gener- 
ally greater celerity. From this fact, and the additional 
one that the more a child is scolded the harder his 
heart becomes, so that here, as in the Rule of Three, 
*'more requires more," — it follows that those who once 
begin to scold, are fortunate if they stop short of high 
attainments in the art. 

There is no enterprise in which the investment yields 
so small a profit as in the business of scolding. It is 
really pitiable to witness the teacher given to this 
practice, making himself and all around him unhappy, 
without the hope of alleviation. The command of the 
tongue is a great virtue in a teacher ; and it is to be 
feared that very many children still suffer in their moral 



212 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

feelings ^ as well as their ears, because so many teach- 
ers do not seasonably learn the right control of the 
"unruly member." 

While upon this subject I may allude to another very 
objectionable mode of address practiced by some teach- 
ers toward their schools. I refer to a mixture of scold- 
ing with a species of low wit or cockney blackguardism, 
that should ever be banished from the schoolroom. 
Such expressions as ''Sit down, John, or I'll shiver 
your top-tiinbe7's,'' — " Attend to your studies, or some 
of you will be a head shorte?','' — " Keep quiet, or you'll 
hear thunder," — and the like. To these I might add 
those empty and debasing threats which are too often 
and too thoughtlessly uttered; as, 'Til skin you alive," 
or "I'll shake you to pieces," or "I'll use you up," — 
with others of the same character. I perhaps ought to 
beg pardon for placing these vulgarisms before the 
general reader ; but they are so frequently employed 
in our schools, in some of our schools of good repute 
too, that I thought it to be my duty to qiwte them (for 
they are all literal quotations), in order if possible to aid 
those who have fallen into such a low habit to see them- 
selves as others see them. 

It is so very easy for a teacher to raise a laugh among 
his pupils, that he is in danger of being seduced into 
the use of coarse and quaint expressions by the suppo- 
sition that they are zvitty. But the mirth of schoolboys 
is not a more reliable criterion of wit in the modern 
teacher than it was in the case of the schoolmaster 

1 A blacksmith, it is said, who had been accustomed to scold his family 
quite too freely, was one day attempting to harden a piece of steel ; but 
failing after two or three attempts, his little son, who had been an observer 
of this as well as other operations of his father, is said to have exclaimed : 
" Scold it, father, scold it. If that wonH harden it, nothing else will.^'' 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT 21 3 

described by Goldsmith ; and possibly the exercise of a 
little discernment on his part would convince him that 
children sometimes laugh, as they did of old, because 
they think \X. prudent to do so. 

" A man severe he was and stern to view, 
I knew him well, and every truant knew ; 
Well had the boding tremblers learned to trace 
The day's disasters in his morning face ; 
Full well they laughed, luith coitiiterfeited glee^ 
At all his jokes, for many a joke had he." 

It is unquestionably true that there are schools and 
many such, now of high standing, the language of 
whose teachers, could it be noted down and printed for 
the parents, would perfectly astonish them ; and such 
is the force of habit, it would very likely astonish the 
teachers themselves. Let all who mean to respect 
themselves, or who desire to be long respected by 
others, most carefully avoid the first approach to the 
use of such kinds of language. Its influence in school 
is "only evil, and that continually," 

2. Those piinisJunents that from their nature imply 
ill the iiiflictor a love of prolonged torture. These are 
quite numerous and are resorted to often for the pur- 
pose of avoiding what is usually deemed severe punish- 
ment. Some of them also have very serious physiological 
objections. As an instance, I may mention the holding 
of a weight at arm's length until the muscles of the 
arm become painful from overexertion and fatigue. 
Sometimes the Bible, being the largest book at hand, is 
chosen as the weight ; and thus that book which should 
have no associations connected with it in the minds of 
the young but those of reverence and love, is made the 
instrument of torture — the minister of cruelty ! 



214 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

Imagine that you see — what I have seen — an offend- 
ing boy called to the teacher's desk, and, after words of 
reproach, sentenced to hold the large Bible at arm's 
length for a specified time, or until the teacher is will- 
ing to release him. At first it is raised with a smile 
of triumph, almost a smile of contempt. Soon the 
muscles thus exerted at disadvantage begin to be weary 
and to relax. '' Hold it up ! " exclaims the vigilant 
teacher ; and it is again brought to its position. Sooner 
than before the muscles are fatigued, and they almost 
refuse to obey the mandate of the zvill, which itself is 
half ivilling to rebel against authority so unreasonable. 
" Up with it ! " — again brings it to its place, or perhaps 
a stroke of the rattan repeats the command with more 
urgency. At this moment every nerve sympathizes, 
and the muscles are urged on to their greatest effort. 
The limb is in agony, — and what agony can surpass 
that of an overstrained muscle } — and the whole system 
reels and writhes with suffering. Now look into that 
child's face and tell me what is the moral effect of this 
sort of punishment } Unless he is one of the most 
amiable of the sons of Adam, he inwardly curses the 
cruelty that he thinks is delighted with pangs like these, 
protracted yet intolerable. He almost curses the blessed 
book which was given to warm his soul into life and 
immortality. He cries with pain, but not with peni- 
tence. He may submit, indeed, and he may abstain 
from similar offenses in time to come ; but it is the sub- 
mission of self-preservation, and the abstinence of an eye- 
servant, — while the stain that has thus been inwrought 
in his moral sensibihties may long remain unexpunged. 
Such a punishment I unhesitatingly pronounce to be 
improper^ whatever may be the circumstances. 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT 21 5 

Akin to this are those other contrivances to give 
prolonged pain which in different parts of the country 
have taken a variety of forms, and as great a variety of 
names. One of these has been termed ^^ Jiolding a nail 
into the floor y It consists in requiring the pupil to 
bend forward, — and, placing the end of a single finger 
upon the head of a nail, to remain in that position till 
the whole system is agonized. Another has by some 
of its inflictors been termed " sitting on nothing." The 
pupil is required to place his back against a wall of the 
room, and his feet perhaps a foot from its base, and 
then to slide his body down till the knees are bent at 
right angles, and his person is in a sitting posture with- 
out a seat ! The muscles, acting over the knee at the 
greatest disadvantage, are now made to support the 
body in that position during the pleasure of the teacher. 
I have seen another mode of punishment practiced, and 
as I have heard no name for it I shall give it the cog- 
nomen of *' sitting on zvorse than nothing." The boy 
in this case was required to sit upon the floor, and then, 
placing the feet upon a bench or chair, to support the 
body in an erect position by reversed action of the 
muscles ! 

But I gladly turn away from a description of the 
punishments I have witnessed in the common schools 
of New England within a quarter of a century, ex- 
hibiting as they do so many characteristics of the dark 
ages. Some of these I have witnessed quite recently; 
and to what extent any or all of them are now in use, I 
am unable to say. I only desire to say, that they are 
all improper, — debasing to the morals of the pupils, 
and degrading to the profession of the teacher; and 
the sooner such punishments are entirely banished from 



2l6 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

our schoolrooms, the sooner will the profession of the 
teacher rise to its proper level. 

3. Ridicule. This is a weapon that should not be 
wielded as a school punishment. It often cuts deeper 
than he who uses it imagines ; and it usually gives most 
pain where it is least merited. Some physical defect, 
or some mental incapacity, or eccentricity, is most fre- 
quently made the subject of it ; and yet nothing can be 
more unfeeling or more unjust than its use in such 
cases. If the designed failings of the indolent, or the 
premeditated mischief of the vicious, could be subjected 
to its influence, its use would be more allowable, — but 
even then it would be questionable. But the indolent 
and vicious are usually unaffected by ridicule. They 
sin upon calculation, and not without counting the cost; 
and they are therefore very willing to risk their reputation 
where they have so little to lose. It is the modest, the 
conscientious, the well-meaning child, that is most affected 
by ridicule ; yet it is such a one that, for various reasons, 
is oftenest made the subject of it, though above all 
others his feehngs should be most tenderly spared. 

A strong objection to the use of ridicule is the feeling 
which it induces between the teacher and pupil. The 
teacher, conscious that he has injured the feelings of the 
child, will find it hard to love him afterward ; for we 
seldom love those whom we have injured. The child, 
on the other hand, loses confidence in his teacher; he 
feels that his sensibilities have been outraged before his 
companions, and that the teacher, who should be his 
best friend in the school, has invited the heartless laugh 
of his fellow-pupils against him. With the want of love 
on the one hand, and of confidence on the other, what 
further usefulness can reasonably be expected } 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT 



217 



But the strongest objection of all to the use of ridicule 
is the fact that it calls forth the worst of feelings in the 
school. Those who participate in the laugh thus ex- 
cited are under the influence of no very amiable motives. 
And when this is carried so far as to invite, by direct 
words, some expression from the schoolmates, by point- 
ing the finger of shame, and perhaps accompanying the 
act by a Jiiss of scorn, the most deplorable spirit of 
self-righteousness is cultivated. 

Little Mary one day was detected in a wrong act by 
her teacher. '' Mary, come here," said the teacher, 
sternly. Little thinking she had been seen she obeyed 
promptly, and stood by the chair of her teacher, who, 
without giving Mary time to reflect, and thus allow the 
conscience opportunity to gain the mastery, immediately 
asked, " What naughty thing did I see you do just 
now.'*" "Nothing," said Mary, partly disposed to 
justify herself, and partly doubting whether indeed the 
teacher had seen her diO anything wrong. *' Oh, Mary, 
Mary, who would think you would tell me a lie ! Did 
you ever hear of Ananias and Sapphira.-^" Here a 
lecture followed on the sin and danger of lying, and 
particularly the danger of sudden death by the ven- 
geance of God. Mary began to tremble and then to 
weep, probably from terror. Now came the second 
part. " I should think you would be ashamed to be 
known to lie. All the children now know that you 
have lied. I should think they would feel ashamed of 
such a naughty little girl in the school. I should not 
wonder," she continued, ''if all the little girls and boys 
should point their fingers at yon and hiss'' In .an 
instant all the children who were not too old to be 
disgusted with the management and tone of the teacher 



2l8 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

pointed their fingers and uttered a long succession of 
hisses, while their faces beamed with all the compla- 
cency of self-righteousness, triumphing over the fall of 
a companion, who perhaps was after all as good and 
as truthful a child as any of them. The poor child at 
first turned her back upon them ; but soon, feeling that 
her reputation was gone, she turned, as woman ever 
will when her self-respect is blighted, with a look of 
indifference, almost a look of defiance. Fear was first 
swallowed up in shame, and shame gave place to reck- 
less audacity. The whole scene was rendered still more 
ruinous to the child from the fact that it took place in 
the presence of visitors ! 

When will our teachers learn the human heart well 
enough to be able to distinguish between a work of 
devastation and of true culture; between a process of 
blighting the sensibilities, searing the conscience, freez- 
ing up the fountains of sympathy and of mutual love 
and confidence, — and a course of training which warms 
the conscience into activity, inculcates the reverence 
and love of God, instead of a slavish fear of His power, 
and instills into the soul a desire to do right, rather than 
to do that which will avoid the reproach of an unfeel- 
ing multitude, more wicked than those they censure ? 
Goldsmith has shown that woman may " stoop to con- 
quer"; but the above narrative shows how she may 
stoop, not to conquer, but to lay waste the youthful 
heart. 

These punishments, and such as these, which I have 
classed under the list of improper punishments, should 
all be carefully considered by the teacher. They should 
be considered before he enters his school. It would be 
well always for him to determine beforehand what pun- 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT 219 

ishments he will not use. It may save him many a seri- 
ous mistake. I have written what I have under this 
head in order to put teachers upon thought ; believing 
that men seldom earnestly and honestly inquire^ with- 
out arriving at the truth in the end. 

II. Proper Punishments. — Every teacher's mind 
should, if possible, be settled as to what punishments 
are proper, so that when they are inflicted, it can be 
done in good faith and with an honest conviction of 
the performance of duty. Among the proper punish- 
ments, I may mention : 

1. Kind Reproof. This will probably be conceded 
by all. I say kind reproof, because no other reproof 
can be useful. I would distinguish it from reproach. 
Reproof, judiciously administered, is one of the most 
effectual punishments that can be used. As a general 
rule this is best administered privately. The child's 
spirit of obstinacy is very likely to exhibit itself in the 
presence of his fellows ; but in private the conscience 
is free to act, and the child very readily submits. It 
is always perfectly safe to reprove privately ; that is, 
not in the presence of the school. The child has no 
motive to misrepresent the teacher ; and if the teacher 
so far spares the reputation of the pupil as to take 
him by himself, this very circumstance will often give 
the teacher access to his better feelings. 

2. Loss of Privileges. By abuse of privileges we 
forfeit them. This is a law of Providence. It is un- 
questionably proper that this should be a law of our 
schools. All those offenses, therefore, against pro- 
priety in the exercise of any privilege may be attended 
with a temporary or permanent deprivation of such 
privilege. A pupil who is boisterous at the recess, 



220 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

disturbing the quiet of the school or impeding the en- 
joyment of his playfellows, may be deprived of the 
recess. A child who disfigures his seat with his knife 
may be deprived of his knife, and so for any other 
similar offense. Some consider it proper to extend this 
punishment to other classes of offenses, as, for example, 
whispering or idleness. While I would not deny the 
right or the propriety of doing so, I should think it 
more expedient not thus to extend it. It is well, as 
far as it can be done, so to punish the child that he 
shall see that his conduct naturally leads to its punish- 
ment as a consequence. And it is moreover very prob- 
able that in most schools there will be demand enough 
for this punishment, in its natural application, without 
extending it to other cases. 

3. Restraint, or confinement. When liberty is abused 
a scholar may be put under restraint. When duty is 
violated and the rights of others are wantonly disre- 
garded, confinement will afford time for reflection, and 
at the same time relieve others from the annoyance 
and detriment of evil example. Such restraint is often 
a wholesome discipline; and confinement, if it be not 
too far protracted, is always safe. It should be re- 
marked, however, that confinement in a dark apartment 
should never be resorted to by any teacher. There are 
insuperable objections to it, growing out of the fears 
which many children early entertain of being alone in 
the dark, as also the fact that light as well as air is 
necessary to the vigorous action of the nervous system 
during the waking hours, especially in the daytime. It 
is well known that a child shut up in a dark room even 
in the warmth of summer speedily undergoes a depres- 
sion of temperature ; and if the confinement is unduly 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT 221 

protracted, cold chills come over the system. For these 
reasons, and others, if confinement is ever used as a 
punishment, it should be in a room properly lighted 
and heated. Our prisoners enjoy, as far as may be, 
both of these favors. 

4. Humiliation. This should be resorted to with 
great caution. When a fault has been openly com- 
mitted, and attended with circumstances of peculiar 
obstinacy, it may sometimes very properly be required 
of the offender that he should confess the fault in a 
manner as public as its commission. This may be due 
to the school. Sometimes when an offensive act is 
very strongly marked, a confession and a request for 
the forgiveness of the teacher or the individual injured 
may be made a condition of restoration to favor. This 
is usually considered a very proper punishment. I 
would however suggest that it be used with great care, 
and never unless the circumstances imperatively de- 
mand it. It may be the means of cultivating the gross- 
est hypocrisy, or of inducing open rebellion ; and it 
sometimes gives the other pupils an advantage over 
the culprit which may do him personally much harm. 
The teacher should be convinced that this is the best 
tiling he can do before he resorts to it. 

5. TJie imposition of a task. In every school there 
is more or less work to be done ; such as sweeping the 
floors, washing the benches, preparing the fuel, and 
making the fires. Unless objection should be made by 
parents, this is one of the most effectual punishments, 
especially in cities and large villages, where work is a 
burden, and the attractions of play are most powerful. 
Some difficult schools have been governed for months 
with no other punishment than labor thus imposed. 



222 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

The plan is, that if two boys neglect their studies so as 
to attract the attention of the teacher, they shall be 
nominated as members of the committee on sweeping, 
— a duty to be performed after school hours. If one 
or two more are decidedly disorderly, they shall be re- 
quired to make fires, bring up wood, or perhaps wash a 
certain portion of the room. This is always assigned 
pleasantly by the teacher, with the understanding, how- 
ever, that any failure to do the allotted work thoroughly 
and faithfully, will be attended with a reappointment till 
the object is secured. 

If parents should object to this it is not absolutely 
essential to the teacher's success ; but where no objec- 
tion is made, if judiciously managed, it may do very 
much in many of our schools toward producing that 
quiet order which otherwise it might require more co- 
gent and less agreeable means to secure. 

It has sometimes been urged as an objection to this 
mode of punishment, that it would tend to attach the 
idea of disgrace to useful labor. It is conceived that 
this is by no means the necessary consequence. On 
the other hand it would serve to teach the difference 
there always is between a duty imposed and one volun- 
tarily undertaken. The same objection would apply to 
our prison discipline, where a man by a willful disregard 
of law and the rights of others very justly forfeits his 
services for a time to the state. I would not lay very 
much stress upon this mode of punishment, though I have 
known it resorted to under favorable circumstances with 
very good effect. It would of course be more effectual 
in a large town or city than in the country, where boys 
are in the habit of laboring at home, and would be 
quite as willing to labor after regular hours at school, 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT 223 

6. Actual cJiastiseuient zvith the rod of correction. I 
have no hesitation (though others have) in placing this 
among the class of proper piinishnients. As this in- 
volves a great question on the subject of school gov- 
ernment, and one that is debated with great zeal and 
warmth in almost every educational meeting that is 
held, I shall feel justified in giving a little more space 
to the consideration of it. 

SECTION IV. — CORPORAL PUNISHMENT 

I am aware that when I enter this field I am treading 
on ground every inch of which has been disputed. I 
come to the task of writing on this subject, however, I 
think, without prejudice or asperity. Having nothing 
to conceal, I shall express my own views honestly and 
frankly, — views which I entertain after diligently seek- 
ing the truth for some twenty years, during which time 
I have listened to a great deal of discussion, and have 
read carefully and candidly whatever has been written 
by others. Nor do I expect to give universal satisfac- 
tion. There are strong men, and I believe honest men, 
who run to the opposite extremes in their doctrine and 
practice, and who defend the one course or the other as 
if the existence of the world depended upon the issue. 
There are those who not only claim the right to chas- 
tise, but who insist that whipping should be the first 
resort of the teacher in establishing his authority ; and 
to show that this is not a dormant article of their faith, 
they daily and almost hourly demonstrate their effi- 
ciency in the use of the rod, so that their pupils may 
be living witnesses that they act in accordance with 
their creed. Again, there are others who as earnestly 
deny the right of the teacher to resort to the rod at all, 



224 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

and who urge with all their power the efficacy of moral 
suasion to subdue and control the vicious and the stub- 
born in our schools; and who are ready to assert un- 
equivocally that no man is fit to be employed to teach 
the young who has not the ability to govern all the vari- 
ous dispositions he may meet in any school, without the 
use of corporal punishment 

I have no disposition to question the sincerity and 
honesty of each of these classes, knowing as I do that 
different men see with different eyes, even when the 
circumstances are the same ; much more when their 
circumstances are widely diverse. I have no bitterness 
of language to apply to those who go to the extreme of 
severity ; nor any sneer to bestow upon the name of 
"moral suasionist." But while I accord to other men 
the right of expressing their own opinions, I claim the 
same privilege for myself, — yet without wishing to ob- 
trude my opinions upon other men any further than 
they will bear the test of reason and experience. 

It is agreed on all hands tJiat the teacher mtist estab- 
lish authority in some zvay, before he can pursue sttccess- 
fiilly the objects of his school. I have described the 
qualifications which the teacher should possess in order 
to govern well, and I have also given some of the means 
of securing good order without a resort to severity. 
Probably in a large majority of our schools the teacher 
with these qualifications and the employment of these 
means, could succeed in establishing and maintaining 
good order without any such resort. This should, in 
my opinion, always be done, if possible, — and no one 
will rejoice more than myself to see the day, should 
that day ever come, when teachers shall be so much 
improved as to be able to do this universally. But in 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT 225 

writing on this subject it is the dictate of common sense 
to take human nature as it is and human teachers as 
they are, and as many of them must be for some time 
to come, — and adapt our directions to the circum- 
stances. Human nature, as it is exhibited in our chil- 
dren, is far from being perfect; and I am sorry to say 
that the parents of our children often exhibit it in a still 
less flattering light. Perhaps no language of mine can 
so well represent the concurrence of circumstances mak- 
ing corporal punishment necessary in our schools as it 
has been done by the Hon. Horace Mann in his lecture 
on "School Punishments." *'The first point," says he, 
"which I shall consider, is, whether corporal punish- 
ment is ever necessary in our schools. As prehminary 
to a decision of this question, let us take a brief survey 
of facts. We have in this commonwealth [Massa- 
chusetts] above one hundred and ninety-two thousand 
children between the ages of four and sixteen years. 
All these children are not only legally entitled to at- 
tend our public schools, but it is our great desire to 
increase that attendance, and he who increases it is 
regarded a reformer. All that portion of these chil- 
dren who attend school, enter it from that vast variety 
of homes which exist in the state. From different 
households, where the wildest diversity of parental and 
domestic influences prevails, the children enter the 
schoolroom, where there must be comparative uniform- 
ity. At home some of these children have been in- 
dulged in every wish, flattered and smiled upon for the 
energies of their low propensities, and even their freaks 
and whims enacted into household laws. Some have 
been so rigorously debarred from every innocent amuse- 
ment and indulgence, that they have opened for them- 

B.-P. THE. & PR. TEACHING — I5 



226 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

selves a way to gratification through artifice and 
treachery and falsehood. Others from vicious parental 
example, and the corrupting influences of vile associ- 
ates, have been trained to bad habits and contaminated 
with vicious principles ever since they were born ; — 
some being taught that honor consists in whipping a 
boy larger than themselves ; others that the chief end 
of man is to own a box that cannot be opened, and to 
get money enough to fill it; and others again have been 
taught upon their father's knees to shape their young 
lips to the utterance of oaths and blasphemy. Now all 
these dispositions, which do not conflict with right more 
than they do with each other, as soon as they cross the 
threshold of the schoolroom, from the different worlds, 
as it were, of homes, must be made to obey the same 
general regulations, to pursue the same studies, and to 
aim at the same results. In addition to these artificial 
varieties, there are natural differences of temperament 
and disposition. 

*' Again ; there are about three thousand public 
schools in the state, in which are employed in the 
course of the year about five thousand different per- 
sons, as teachers, including both males and females. 
Excepting a very few cases, these five thousand persons 
have had no special preparation or training for their 
employment, and many of them are young and without 
experience. These five thousand teachers, then, so 
many of whom are unprepared, are to be placed in au- 
thority over the one hundred and ninety-two thousand 
children, so many of whom have been perverted. With- 
out passing through any transition state for improve- 
ment, these parties meet each other in the schoolroom, 
where mutiny and insubordination and disobedience 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT 



227 



arc to be repressed, order maintained, knowledge ac- 
quired. He, therefore, who denies the necessity of 
resorting to punishment in our schools, — and to cor- 
poral punishment, too, — virtually affirms two things : 
first, that this great number of children, scooped up 
from all places, taken at all ages and in all conditions, 
can be deterred from the wrong and attracted to the 
right without punishment ; and secondly, he asserts 
that the five thousand persons whom the towns and 
districts employ to keep their respective schools, are 
now, and in the present condition of things, able to ac- 
complish so glorious a work. Neither of these propo- 
sitions am I at present prepared to admit. If there 
are extraordinary individuals — and we know there are 
such — so singularly gifted with talent and resources 
and with the divdne quality of love that they can win 
the affection, and, by controlling the heart, can control 
the conduct of children who for years have been 
addicted to lie, to cheat, to swear, to steal, to fight, still 
I do not believe there are now five thousand such 
individuals in the state whose heavenly services can be 
obtained for this transforming work. And it is useless, 
or worse than useless to say, that such or such a thing 
can be done, and done immediately, without pointing 
out the agents by whom it can be done. One who 
affirms that a thing can be done, without any reference 
to the persons who can do it, must be thinking of 
miracles. If the position were that children may be 
so educated from their birth, and teachers may be so 
trained for their calling as to supersede the necessity 
of corporal punishment, except in cases decidedly 
monstrous, then I should have no doubt of its truth ; 
but such a position must have reference to some future 



228 THEORY AND PRACTICE OE TEACHING 

period, which we should strive to hasten, but ought not 
to anticipate." 

Aside from the causes demanding punishment, so 
ably portrayed in the passage just quoted, there is still 
another, growing out of divisions and .quarrels in the 
district. It is by no means uncommon, in our districts, 
owing to some local matter, or to some disunion in 
politics or religion, for the people to be arrayed, the 
one part against the other. The inhabitants of the 
upper road are jealous of the dwellers on the loiver 
road ; the ///// portion of the district is aggrieved by 
the influence of the valley portion ; the east end com- 
plains of the selfishness of the ivest end, and so of 
the north and south. Whenever a schoolhouse is to 
be built, these different interests are aroused and a 
protracted and baleful quarrel is the result. One party 
" carries the day " by the force of numbers, but the 
prosperity of the school is impaired for years. At 
every district meeting there will be the same strife for 
the mastery. If one division gains the power, the other 
bends its energies to cripple the school and to annoy 
the teacher who may be employed by the dominant 
party, however excellent or deserving he may be. " We 
will see," say those who find themselves in the minority, 
" we will see whether this man can keep our school as 
well as it was done last year by onr master." This is 
uttered in the presence of their children — perhaps their 
half-grown sons, who will be very ready to meet their 
new teacher with prejudice and to act out the mis- 
givings of their parents as to his success. When the 
teacher first enters the school, he is met by opposition 
even before he has time to make an impression for 
good ; opposition which he can scarcely hope to sur- 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT 229 

mount as long as it is thua encouraged at home. Now 
what shall he do ? Shall he yield the point, abandon 
the idea of authority, and endeavor to live along from 
day to day in the hope of a more comfortable state of 
things by and by ? He may be sure that matters will 
daily grow worse. Shall he give up in despair, and 
leave the school to some successor? This will only 
strengthen the opposition and make it more violent 
when the successor shall be appointed. It is but put- 
ting the difficulty one step farther off. Besides, if the 
teacher does thus give up and leave the school he loses 
his own reputation as a man of energy, and, in the eyes 
of the world, v/ho perhaps may not know — or care to 
know — all the circumstances, he is held ever after as 
incompetent for the office. 

Now it would be very gratifying if the teacher, under 
any or all of these difficulties, could possess' the moral 
power to quell them all by a look or by the exercise of 
his ingenuity in interesting his pupils in their studies. 
Undoubtedly there are some men who could do it, and 
do it most triumphantly, so as to make their most 
zealous enemies in a few days their warmest friends. 
But there are not many who can work thus at disad- 
vantage. What then shall be done } Shall the school 
be injured by being disbanded, and the teacher be 
stigmatized for a failure, when he has been employed 
in good faith } I say no. He has the right to establish 
authority by corporal iiifliction ; and thus to save the 
school and also save himself. And more than this ; — 
if there is reasonable ground to believe that by such 
infliction he can establish order, and thus make himself 
useful, and save the time and the character of the 
school, he not only has the right, but he is bound by 



230 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

duty to use it. The lovers of order in the district have 
a right to expect him to use it, unless by express stipu- 
lation beforehand they have exempted him from it. I 
repeat, then, that it is the teacher's duty to establish 
authority ; "peaceably, indeed, if he may, — forcibly if 
he must." 

I ought in fairness here to add, as I have before 
hinted, that not unfrequently the necessity for corporal 
infliction exists in the teacher himself. This is often 
proved by a transfer of teachers. One man takes a 
school and can only survive his term by the exercise of 
whipping. He is followed by another who secures good 
order and the love of the school without any resort to 
the rod. The first declared that whipping was neces- 
sary in his case to secure good order, and truly ; but 
the necessity resided in him and not in the school. So 
it often does, — and while teachers are zealously defend- 
ing the rod, they should also feel the necessity of im- 
proving themselves as the most effectual way to obviate 
its frequent use. 

When authority is once established in a school it is 
comparatively easy to maintain it. There will of course 
be less necessity for resorting to the rod after the teacher 
has obtained the ascendency, unless it be in the event 
of taking some new pupil into the school who is dis- 
posed to be refractory. I have but little respect for the 
teacher who is daily obliged to fortify his authority by 
corporal infliction. Something must be fundamentally 
wrong in the teacher whose machinery of government, 
when once well in motion, needs to be so often forcibly 
wound up. 

From what has already been said it will be seen that I 
do not belong to the number who affirm that the rod of 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT 23 1 

correction sJiould never be nsed in schools. Nor am I 
prepared to advise any teacher to publish beforehand 
that he will not punish with the rod. It would always 
be wiser for the teacher to say nothing about it. Very 
little good ever comes of threatening the use of it. 
Threatening of any sort avails but little. A teacher 
may enter a school with the determination to govern it 
if possible without force. Indeed I should advise one 
always to make this determination in his own mind. 
But whenever such a determination is published, the 
probability of success is very much diminished. 

The true way and the safe way, in my opinion, is to 
rely mainly on moral means for the government of the 
school, — to use the rod without much threatening, if 
driven to it by the force of circumstances ; and as soon 
as authority is estabhshed, to allow it again to slumber 
with the tacit understanding that it can be again awak- 
ened from its repose if found necessary. The knowl- 
edge in the school that there is an arm of power, may 
prevent any necessity of an appeal to it ; and such a 
knowledge can do no possible harm in itself. But if 
the teacher has once pledged himself to the school that 
he will never use the rod, the necessity may soon come 
for him to abandon his position or lose his influence over 
the pupils. 

As much has been said against the use of the rod 
in any case in school government, it may be proper to 
consider briefly some of the substitutes for it which 
have been suggested by its opposers. 

Some have urged solitary confinement. This might do 
in some cases. Undoubtedly an opportunity for reflec- 
tion is of great use to a vicious boy. But then how 
inadequate are the means for this kind of discipline in 



232 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

our schools. Most of our schoolhouses have but one 
room. In such cases soHtary confinement is out of the 
question. In other instances there may be (as there 
always should be) a room, not constantly devoted to the 
purposes of the school. Here a pupil could be confined ; 
and I have no objection whatever to this course, provided 
the room is not a dark one, and its temperature can be 
comfortable. But even with this facility, confinement 
cannot be relied on as the only punishment, because if 
offenses should multiply and the offenders should all be 
sent to the same place, then confinement would soon 
cease to be solitary ! And suppose some philanthropist 
should devise a plan of a schoolhouse with several cells 
for the accommodation of offenders ; still this punish- 
ment would fail of its purpose. The teacher has no 
power to confine a pupil much beyond the limit of school 
hours. This the obstinate child would understand, and 
he would therefore resolve to hold out till he must be 
dismissed, and then he would be the triumphant party. 
He could boast to his fellows that he had borne the pun- 
ishment, and that without submission or promise for the 
future he had been excused because his time had expired. 
This substitute is often urged by parents who have 
tried it successfully in case of their own children in their 
own houses, where it was known that it could of course 
be protracted to any necessary length. Besides, if the 
confinement alone was not sufficient, the daily allowance 
of food could be withheld. Under such circumstances 
it may be very effectual, as undoubtedly it often has 
been ; but he is a very shallow parent who, having tried 
this experiment upon a single child, with all the facilities 
of a parent, prescribes it with the expectation of equal 
success in the government of a large school. 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT 233 

Others Jiave urged the expulsion of such scholars as 
are disobedient. To this it may be repHed that it is not 
quite certain, under existing laws, whether the teacher 
has the rigJit to expel a scholar from the common 
schools ; and some deny even the right of the school 
officers to do it. Whether the right exists or not, it is 
very questionable whether it is ever expedient to expel 
a scholar for vicious conduct ; and especially in cases 
where there is physical power to control him. The 
vicious and ignorant scholar is the very one who most 
needs the reforming influence of a good education. 
Sent away from the fountain of knowledge and virtue 
at this, the very time of need, and what may we ex- 
pect for him but utter ruin } Such a pupil most of all 
needs the restraint and the instruction of a teacher who 
is capable of exercising the one and affording the other. 

But suppose he is dismissed, is there any reason to 
hope that this step will improve the culprit himself or 
better the condition of the school t Will he not go on 
to establish himself in vice, unrestrained by any good 
influence, and at last become a suitable subject for the 
severity of the laws, an inmate of our prisons, and per- 
haps a miserable expiator of his own crimes upon the 
gallows.^ How many youth — and youth worth saving, 
too — have been thus cast out perversely to procure 
their own ruin, at the very time when they might have 
becji saved by sufficient energy and benevolence, no 
mortal tongue can tell ! Nor is the school itself usually 
benefited by this measure. '' For all purposes of evil," 
Mr. Mann justly remarks, '' he continues in the midst 
of the very children from among whom he was cast out ; 
and when he associates with them out of school, there 
is no one present to abate or neutralize his vicious influ- 



234 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

ences. If the expelled ptipil be driven from the district 
where he belongs into another, in order to prevent his 
contamination at home, what better can be expected of 
the place to which he is sent than a reciprocation of the 
deed, by their sending one of their outcasts to supply his 
place ; and thus opening a commerce of evil upon free- 
trade principles. Nothing is gained while the evil pur- 
pose remains in the heart. Reformation is the great 
desideratum ; and can any lover of his country hesitate 
between the alternative of forcible subjugation and vic- 
torious contumacy .'' " 

From all that has been said it will be seen that I do 
not hesitate to teach that corporal iiifliction is one of the 
justifiable means of establishing authority in the school- 
ivoni. To this conclusion I have come, after a careful 
consideration of the subject, modified by the varied ex- 
perience of nearly twenty years, and by a somewhat 
attentive observation of the workings of all the plans 
which have been devised to avoid its use or to supply 
its place. And although I do not understand the 
Scriptures, and particularly the writings of Solomon, to 
recommend a too frequent and ill-considered use of it, I 
do not find anything in the letter or spirit of Christianity 
inconsistent with its proper application. It is the abuse, 
and not the use of the rod, against which our better 
feeling, as well as the spirit of Christianity, revolts. It 
is the abnse of the rod, or rather the abuse of children 
under the infliction of the rod, that first called forth the 
discussion referred to and awakened the general opposi- 
tion to its use. I am free to admit there has been an 
egregious abuse in this matter, and that to this day it is 
unabated in many of our schools. I admit, too, that 
abuse very naturally accompanies the use of the rod, 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT 235 

and that very great caution is necessary in those who 
resort to it, lest they pervert it. I feel called upon 
therefore before leaving this subject to throw out for the 
consideration of the young teacher particularly a few 
hints to regulate the infliction of chastisement, under the 
head of 

SECTION V. LIMITATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. The teacher should be thoroughly convinced that 
the rod is the best thing for the specific case before he 
determines to use it. Nor should he hastily or capri- 
ciously come to this conviction. He should carefully 
and patiently try other means first. He should study 
the disposition of the offender and learn the tendencies 
of his mind ; and only after careful deliberation should 
he suffer himself to decide to use this mode of punish- 
ment. In order that the punishment should be salutary, 
the scholar should plainly see that the teacher resorts to 
it from deep principle, from the full belief that under all 
the circumstances it is the best thing that can be done. 

2. The teacher should never be tmder the excitement 
of angry passion when inflicting the punishment. This 
is of the utmost importance. Most of the abuses before 
spoken of grow out of a violation of this fundamental 
rule. A teacher should never strike for punishment till 
he is perfectly self-possessed and entirely free from the 
bitterness which perhaps tinctured his mind when he 
discovered the offense. It was a wise remark of a young 
Shaker teacher that " no teacher should strike a child 
till lie could hold his arm.'' So long as the child dis- 
covers that the teacher is under the influence of passion, 
and that his lip trembles with pent-up rage, and his 
blood flows into his face as if driven by inward fires of 



236 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

wrath, he looks upon him, not as his friend seeking his 
welfare, but as his enemy indulging in persecution. 
This will call forth the evil passions of the child, and 
while he bears the pain he feels no real penitence ; and 
very likely in the midst of his suffering he resolves to 
go and do the same again out of mere spite. 

It is moreover of great consequence in the infliction 
of a punishment that the teacher should be fully sus- 
tained by the public opinion of the school. He can 
never expect this when he loses his self-control. If the 
pupils see that he is angry, they alm.ost instinctively 
sympathize with the weaker party, and they associate 
the idea of injustice with the action of the stronger. 
A punishment can scarcely be of any good tendency 
inflicted under such circumstances. 

3. Corporal punishment, as a general rule, should be 
inflicted in presence of the school. I have before advised 
that reproof should be given in private, and assigned 
reasons for it which were perhaps satisfactory to the 
reader. But in case of corporal punishment the 
offense is of a more public and probably of a more 
serious nature. If inflicted in private it will still be 
known to the school, and therefore the reputation 
of the scholar is not saved. If inflicted in the proper 
spirit by the teacher and for proper cause, it always 
produces a salutary effect upon the school. But a still 
stronger reason for making the infliction public is, that 
it puts it beyond the power of the pupil to misrepresent 
the teacJier, as he is strongly tempted to do if he is 
alone. He may mistake the degree of severity, and 
misrepresent the manner of the teacher ; and, without 
witnesses, the teacher is at the mercy of his reports. 
Sometimes he may ridicule the punishment to his 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT 237 

comrades, and lead them to believe that a private in- 
fliction is but a small matter ; again he may exag- 
gerate it to his parents, and charge the teacher most 
unjustly with unprincipled cruelty. Under these cir- 
cumstances I am of the opinion that the safest and 
most effectual way is to do this work in the presence of 
the school. An honest teacher need not fear the light 
of day ; and if he has the right spirit he need not fear 
the effect upon his other pupils. It is only the violent, 
angry punishment that needs to be concealed from the 
general eye, and that we have condemned as improper 
at any rate. 

4. Punishment may sometimes be delayed ; and al- 
zvays delayed till all anger has subsided in the teachei'. 
It is often best for all concerned to defer an infliction for 
a day or more. This gives the teacher an opportunity in 
his cooler moments to determine more justly the degree 
of severity to be used. It will also give the culprit time 
to reflect upon the nature of his offense and the degree 
of punishment he deserves. I may say that it is gener- 
ally wise for the teacher, after promising a punishment, 
to take some time to consider ivJiat it shall be, whether a 
corporal infliction or some milder treatment. If, after 
due and careful reflection, he comes conscientiously to 
the conclusion that bodily pain is the best thing, — while 
he will be better prepared to inflict, the pupil, by similar 
reflection, will be better prepared to receive it and 
profit by it. 

5. A proper instrument should be used and a proper 
mode of infliction adopted. No heavy and hurtful 
weapon should be employed. A light rule for the hand, 
or a rod for the back or lower extremities, may be pre- 
ferred. Great care should be exercised to avoid injuring 



238 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

any of the joints in the infliction; and on no account 
should a blow be given upon the head. 

6. If possible, the punishment should be made effectual. 
A punishment that does not produce thorough submis- 
sion and penitence in the subject of it, can hardly be 
said to answer its main design. To be sure, in cases of 
general insubordination in the school, I have said that 
punishment may be applied to one, having in view the 
deterring of others from similar offenses. But such 
exemplary punishment belongs to extreme cases, while 
disciplinary punishment, which has mainly for its ob- 
ject the reformation of the individual upon whom it is 
inflicted, should be most relied on. Taking either view 
of the case it should if possible answer its design, or it 
would be better not to attempt it. The teacher's judg- 
ment, therefore, should be very carefully exercised in 
the matter, and all his knowledge of human nature 
should be called into requisition. If after careful and 
conscientious deliberation he comes to the conclusion 
that the infliction of pain is the best thing, and to the 
belief that he can so inflict it as to show himself to the 
school and to the child, in this act as in all others, a true 
and kind friend to the child, — then he is justified in 
making the attempt ; and having considerately under- 
taken the case, it should be so tJiorough as not soon to 
need repetition. 

I would here take the opportunity to censure the 
practice of those teachers who punish every little de- 
parture from duty with some trifling appliance of the 
rod, which the scholar forgets almost as soon as the 
smarting ceases. Some instructors carry about with 
them a rattan or stick in order to have it ready for 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT 239 

appliance as soon as they see any departure from their 
commands. The consequence is they soon come to a 
frequent and inconsiderate use of it, and the pupils by 
habit become familiar with it, and of course cease to 
respect their teacher or to dread his punishments. I 
have seen so much of this that whenever I see a teacher 
thus ''ariued and equipped, " I infer at once that his 
school is a disorderly one, an inference almost invariably 
confirmed by a few minutes' observation. My earnest 
advice to all young teachers would be, next to the habit 
of scolding incessantly, avoid tJie habit of resorting to tJie 
rod on every slight occasion. When that instrument is not 
demanded for some special exigency, some great occasion 
and some high purpose, allow it to slumber in a private 
corner of your desk, not again to be called into activity 
till some moral convulsion shall disturb its quiet repose. 
I have a single caution to give in regard to the dis- 
cussion of this subject, which in all our educational 
gatherings occupies so much time and talent. It is 
this : Do not adopt a general principle from too fezv 
inductions. There is an old proverb that declares, 
"One swallow does not make a summer." Young 
teachers are very prone to rely on the experience of a 
single term. If they have kept one term without cor- 
poral punishment, they are very Hkely to instruct their 
seniors with their experience ; and if they have happened 
to be so situated as to be compelled to save themselves 
by the rod, why then too their experience forever settles 
the question. It requires the experience of more than 
one, or tivo or tJiree schools, to enable a man to speak 
dogmatically on this subject; and I always smile when 
I hear men, and sometimes very young men, who have 
never kept school in their lives, perhaps, or at most but 



240 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

a single term, speaking as with the voice of authority. 
Experience is indeed one of our safest guides in this as 
in every other matter ; but they who tell their experi- 
ence should at least wait till they have that which is 
worthy to be told. 

There is another point. It is quite fashionable at the 
present day, whenever the subject is to be discussed, 
to propose the matter in the form of a resolution, as, 
" Resolved, that no person is fit to be employed as a 
teacher who cannot govern his scholars by holier means 
than bodily chastisement;" or, "Resolved, that no limit 
should be set to the teacher's right to use the ' rod of 
correction,' and that they who denounce the teachers 
for resorting to it are unworthy of our confidence in 
matters of education." Now whoever presents the 
question in this form assumes that he has drawn a line 
through the very core of the truth ; and he undertakes 
to censure all those who are unwilling to square their 
opinions by the line thus drawn. In the discussion a 
man must take one side or the other of the question as 
it is proposed, and consequently he may take a false 
position. The better way would be to present the whole 
subject as a matter of free remark, and thus leave every 
one to present his own views honestly as they lie i7i his 
own mind. In this way no one is pledged to this or that 
party, but is left unprejudiced to discover and embrace 
the truth wherever it is found. 

It should moreover be remembered that resolving by 
the vote of a meeting in order to force public opi7iio7t 
can never affect the truth. A few impious. Heaven- 
daring men in France, at one of their revels, once re- 
solved, "There is no God ! " but did this blasphemous 
breath efface the impress of Deity on all this fair crea- 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT 24 1 

tion of His power ? And when they rose from their vile 
debauch and sought with tottering step to leave the 
scene of madness and to court the dim forgetfulness of 
sleep, — rolled not the shining orbs in heaven's high 
arch above them as much in duty to His will, as when 
they sang together to usher in creation's morning? So 
it will ever be. Men may declare and resolve as they 
please ; but truth is eternal and unchangeable ; and 
they are the wisest men who modestly seek to find her 
as she is, and not as their perverted imaginations would 
presume to paint her. 

Yet after all, in the government of schools, there is 
a more excellent way. There are usually easier avenues 
to the heart than that which is found through the in- 
teguments of the body. Happy is that teacher who is 
so skillful as to find them ; and gladly would I welcome 
the day when the number of such skillful and devoted 
teachers should render any further defense of the rod 
superfluous. Although I believe that day has not yet 
arrived, still in the meantime I most earnestly urge all 
teachers to strive to reach the higher motives and the 
finer feelings of the young, and to rely mainly for suc- 
cess, not upon appeals to fear and force, but upon the 
power of conscience and the law of reciprocal affection. 

As I have placed the higher motives and the more 
desirable means first in order in these remarks on 
government, so I would always have them first and 
perseveringly employed by the teacher ; and if by ear- 
nestness in his work, by unfeigned love for the young, 
by diligence in the study of their natures and the adap- 
tation of means to ends which true benevolence is sure 
to suggest, he can govern successfully without corporal 

B.-P. THE. & PR. TEACHING — 1 6 



242 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

punishment — as in a large proportion of cases I believe 
it can be done — none will rejoice more than I at such 
a desirable result; and I most cordially subscribe to 
the principle so happily stated by another, that in the 
government of schools, if thorough obedience be but 
secured and order maintained, other things being equal, 
"The minimum of punishment is the maximum of 

EXCELLENCE." 



AN IDEAL SCHOOL 

"A well-governed school, in my estimation, is so 
well poised, that is, so self-poised, that in the absence 
of the teacher, it will run on of itself till the nightfall, 
without noise or friction. Is this too much to expect ? 
Fellow-teachers, we can take iron and brass and make 
a watch that will keep time when its owner is sound 
asleep ; that will run on correctly for a year. He is a 
poor watchmaker who cannot make one that will run 
twenty-four hours. Can we do more with dead, dumb 
metal than we can with living, loving, throbbing human 
hearts t Can we accomplish more accurate, definite, 
reliable results with our skilled hands than our trained 
minds } Shall a teacher of immortal souls yield to a 
maker of machinery.'* Nay, verily." — J. Dorman 
Steele, Morgan's ** Educational Mosaics," p. 234. 

TOPICAL OUTLINE 

Preface. 

1. Obedience and order necessary conditions of success 

2. The teacher is often the source of disorder. 
I. Requisites in the Teacher for Good Government. 

I. Self-government, 
(i) Anger. 

(2) Levity and moroseness. 

(3) The peculiar and unfortunate. 



SCHOOL GOVEKAAIENT 243 

2. Confidence in his ability to govern. 

(i) Not blind presumption. 

(2) Effects of self-confidence. 

(3) Effects of misgivings. 

3. Just views of government. 

(i) Its purpose is to quicken and enlighten the con> 
science and to strengthen the will for righteom 
self-control. 

(2) The well-being of the pupils more important thai^ 

the pleasure or convenience of the teacher. 

(3) Considers only the best good of the children. 

(4) Must be uniform — free from caprice. 

(5) Must be equable and impartial. 

4. Just views of the governed. 

(i) Children have a right to be treated humanely. 

(2) Children have a right to be treated reasonably. 

(3) Children have a right to be treated impartially. 

5. Decision and firmness. 

(i) Define each. 

(2) Effects of indecision and vacillation. Illustrate. 

6. Deep moral principle. 

(i) Effect on pupils. 

11 . Means of securing Good Order. 

1. Be careful about first impressions. 

(i) Naturalness. 

(2) Pretenses. 

(3) Discourtesy. 

2. Avoid entertaining or exhibiting a suspicious spirit. 

(i) Trust pupils as long and far as possible. 

(2) Believing people to be what they are not helps to 

make them what they are not. [The lesson oi 
" Little Lord Fauntleroy."] 

(3) Franklin's rule. 

3. Give regular and full employment as soon as possible. 

(i) Have a plan for the first day. 

(2) Classify, and work by schedule conscientiously. 

(3) The discipline of interested industry. 

4. Make but few rules. White's School Management, pp. 

lOO-IOI. 



244 THEORY AND PRACTICE OE TEACHING 

(i) Arguments against a long code of rules. 

(2) The law of conscience more important than the 

law of the teacher. 

(3) The futiUty of threats. 

5. Wake up mind in the school and the district. 

(i) Vary the ordinary daily routine. How ? 
(2) Have vocal music. Why? 

6. Visit the parents of your pupils. Why ? 

7. Register credits ; omit demerits. 

(i) Page's estimate of marks and reports. 

8. Avoid over-government. 

(i) Government is subordinate to instruction. 

(2) A well-taught school needs httle government. 

(3) The teacher who is constantly struggling to gov- 

ern his school has failed first of all in teach- 
ing it. 

(4) A disorderly teacher makes a disorderly school. 

(5) Over-stillness indicates the palsy of fear. 

HI. PuiiisJwieiits. 

1. Definition. Punishment must be : 

(i) Authoritative and just. 

Source of the teacher's legal authority. 
Source of the teacher's moral authority. 

(2) Impersonal. 

Free from personal feelings. 

(3) Reformative or deterrent, or both. 

Read White's School Management, pp. 192-198. 

2. The legal aspect of anger, revenge, and cruelty on part 

of the teacher in punishing. 

3. An address to fear and shame sometimes necessary. 

When? 

4. Kinds of punishment. 

(i) Mental. Instances. 

(2) Bodily. Instances. j^ 

5. Improper punishments. % 

(i) Personal indignities. Instances. 

(2) Punishments indicating love of torture. Instances. : 

(3) Ridicule. 4; 

Effects on teacher and on pupil. U' 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT 245 

6. Proper punishments. 

(i) Kind reproof — usually in private. 

(2) Loss of privileges. Instances. 

(3) Restraint or confinement. 

For what class of offenses ? 

Caution against confinement in the dark. 

(4) Humiliation. Caution. 

(5) Imposition of tasks. 

Instances. Caution. 

(6) Corporal punishment. 

IV. Corpj}-al PiuiishiJicnt. Page's propositions : 

1. Authority must be established before the objects of the 

school can be accomplished. 

2. It is the teacher's duty to establish authority; peaceably 

if he may, forcibly if he must. 

3. The necessity for flogging often arises in the home life of 

pupils. 

4. Oftentimes it resides in the teacher. 

5. The efficient teacher finds a decreasing need for appeal to 

the rod. 

6. It is unwise to publish beforehand the teacher's views 

about corporal punishment. 

7. Rely on moral means mainly ; use the rod if driven to it 

by force of circumstances. 

8. Solitary confinement an inconvenient and, as a rule, an 

unwise substitute for the rod. 

9. Expulsion is also a substitute of doubtful wisdom. 

(i) It abandons the idea of reformation where it is 

most needed. 
(2) It endangers the community without protecting the 

school. 

10. Christian sentiment revolts at the abuse of the rod, not at 

its use. 

1 1 . The use of the rod has been egregiously abused in many 

schools. 
V. Limitations and Suggestions. 

1 . Appeal to the rod deliberately and conscientiously — as a 

last resort. 

2. The rod should never be used in anger. 



246 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

3. Corporal punishment should be inflicted publicly, as a rule. 

Are Page's reasons satisfactory? 

4. Delay gives the teacher and the pupil time for reflection. 

5. Corporal punishment should be so thorough — short of 

cruelty — as not to need repetition. 

6. The punishment should be inflicted with a safe instru- 

ment in a proper manner. 

7. The rod should not be used for trifling offenses. 

8. It should be kept out of sight when not in use. 
VI. Conchision. 

1. There is a more excellent way; not through fear and 

force, but by appeals to finer feelings and higher 
motives, to conscience and mutual affection. 

2. The minimum of punishment is the maximum of excellence. 

SUBJECTS FOR DISCUSSION OR ESSAYS 

1. Elements of Governing Power. 

Baldwin's Art of School Management, pp. 124-138. 

2. The Purposes of School Government. 

Compayre's Lectures on Pedagogy, p. 475. 
White's School Management, pp. 105-113. 
Third Yearbook of the National Herbart Society. Article by 
Dr. W. T. Harris. 

3. The Purposes and Principles of Punishment. 

Fitch's Lectures on Teaching, pp. iio-iii. 
White's School Management, pp. 190-206. 
Bain's Education as a Science, pp. 102-105. 
Baldwin's School Management, pp. 154-160. 

4. The Use and Abuse of the Rod. 

Baldwin's School Management, pp. 174-182. 
Bain's Education as a Science, p. 116. 
Swett's Methods of Teaching, pp. 64-65. 
Fitch's Lectures on Teaching, p. 119. 

5. The Discipline of Natural Consequences. 

Spencer's Education. Chap. III. (On Moral Education.) 

Bain's Education as a Science, p. 118. 

Fitch's Lectures on Teaching, p. 115. 

White's School Management, pp. 203-210. 

Compayre's Psychology as applied to Education, pp. 190-192. 



CHAPTER XI 

SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS 

Your school must be in a state of order or disorder — arrange- 
ment or derangement. Education is largely concerned with thinking 
and saying and doing things in an orderly way — with arrangement 
instead of derangement. 

Every teacher before opening a school should have 
some general plan in his mind, of what he intends to ac- 
complish. In every enterprise there is great advantage 
to be derived from forethought, — and perhaps nowhere 
is the advantage greater than in the business of teach- 
ing. The day of opening a school is an eventful day to 
the young teacher. A thousand things crowd upon him 
at the same time, and each demands a prompt and judi- 
cious action on his part. The children to the number 
of half a hundred all turn their inquiring eyes to him 
for occupation and direction. They have come full of 
interest in the prospects of the new school, ready to en- 
gage cheerfully in whatever plans the teacher may have 
to propose; and, I was about to say, just as ready to 
arrange and carry into effect their own plans of disorder 
and misrule, if they, unhappily for him and for them- 
selves, find he has no system to introduce. 

What a critical — what an eventful moment is this 
first day of the term to all concerned ! The teacher's 
success and usefulness, — nay, his reputation as an effi- 
cient instructor, — now "hang upon the decision of an 

247 



248 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

hour." An hour, too, may almost foretell whether the 
precious season of childhood and youth now before 
these immortals is to be a season of profit and healthful 
culture under a judicious hand, or a season of wasted — 
perhaps worse than wasted — existence, under the im- 
becility or misguidance of one who '' knows not what he 
does or what he deals with." 

If angels ever visit our earth and hover unseen around 
the gatherings of mortals to survey their actions and 
contemplate their destiny as affected by human instru- 
mentality, it seems to me there can be no spectacle so 
calculated to awaken their interest and enkindle their 
sympathy as when they see the young gathering to- 
gether from their scattered homes in some rural district, 
to receive an impress, for weal or woe, from the hand of 
him who has undertaken to guide them. And suppos- 
ing them to have the power to appreciate to the full 
extent the consequences of human agency, how must 
they be touched with emotions of joy and gratitude, or 
shudder with those of horror and dread, as they witness 
the alternations of wisdom and folly, seriousness and 
indifference, sincerity and duplicity, purity and defile- 
ment, exhibited by him who has assumed to be at once 
the director and exemplar in the formation of human 
character, at such an important period. How deplorable 
is the thought that all the fond hopes of the parents, all 
the worthy aspirings of the children, and all the thrilling 
interests of higher beings, are so often to be answered 
by qualifications so scanty, and by a spirit so indifferent 
in the teaching of the young. How sad the thought 
that up to this very moment so pregnant with conse- 
quences to all concerned, there has been too often so 
little of preparation for the responsibility. 



SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS 249 

I fain would impress the young teacher with the im- 
portance of having a plan for even the first day of the 
school. It will raise him surprisingly in the estimation 
of the pupils and also of the parents if he can make an 
expeditious and efficient beginning of the school. While 
the dull teacher is slowly devising the plans he will by 
and by present for the employment and improvement of 
his school, the children, taking advantage of their own 
exemption from labor, very promptly introduce their 
own plans for amusing themselves or for annoying him ; 
— whereas if he could but have his own plans already 
made, and could promptly and efficiently carry them 
into execution, he would forestall their mischievous 
designs and make cooperators out of his opposers. 

In order to be sure of a successful commencement I 
would recommend that the teacher should go into the 
district a few days before the school is to begin. By 
careful inquiry of the trustees or the school committee 
he can ascertain what are the character of the district 
and wants of the school. This will afford him consider- 
able aid. But he should do more than this. He would 
do well to call on several of the families of the district 
whose children are to become members of his school. 
This he can do without any ceremony, simply saying to 
them that, as he has been appointed their teacher, he is 
desirous as far as he may to ascertain their wants, in 
order to be as prompt as possible in the organization of 
his school. He will of course see the children them- 
selves. From them he can learn what was the organi- 
zation of the school under his predecessor; how many 
studied geography, how many arithmetic, grammar, 
etc. ; and he can also learn whether the former organi- 
zation was satisfactory to the district or not. The 



250 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

modes of government and the methods of interesting 
the pupils practiced by the former teacher would be 
likely to be detailed to him ; and from the manner of 
both parents and children he could judge whether 
similar methods would still be desirable in the district. 
By calling on several of the largest families in this way, 
he would learn beforehand very accurately the state of 
the school and the state of the district. 

I will take this occasion to insist that the teacher in 
these visits should heartily discourage any forwardness, 
so common among children, to disparage a former 
teacher. It should be his sole object to gain useful 
information. He should give no signs of pleasure in 
listening to any unfavorable statements as to his prede- 
cessor ; and I may add that during the progress of the 
school he should ever frown upon any attempt on 
the part of the pupils to make comparisons derogatory 
to a former teacher. This is a practice altogether too 
prevalent in our schools ; and I am sorry to say there 
are still too many teachers who are mean enough 
to countenance it. Such a course is unfair, because 
the absent party may be grossly misrepresented; it 
is dangerous, because it tends to cultivate a spirit of 
detraction in the young ; and it is mean, because the 
party is absent and has no opportunity of defending 
himself. 

Another important advantage of the visits proposed 
would be that he would make the acquaintance of many 
of the children beforehand; and very Hkely, too, if he 
should go in the right spirit and with agreeable man- 
ners he would make a favorable impression upon them, 
and thus he would have personal friends on his side to 
begin with. The parents, too, would see that he took 



SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS 2^1 

an interest in his employment; that he had come 
among them in the spirit of his vocation — in the spirit 
of earnestness ; and they would immediately become 
interested in his success, — a point of no small impor- 
tance. 

I might here caution the teacher against a very com- 
mon error. He should not confine his visits to the 
more wealthy and influential families. The poor and 
the humble should receive his attentions as soon as the 
rich. From the latter class very likely a large portion 
of his school will come; and it is wrong in principle as 
well as policy to neglect those who have not been as 
successful as others in the one item of accumulating 
property. 

On the day of opening the school he should be early 
at the schoolhouse. Mr. Abbott, in his ''Teacher," has 
some valuable suggestions on this point. " It is desir- 
able," he says, "that the young teacher should meet 
his scholars at first in an tinofficial capacity. For this 
purpose he should repair to the schoolroom on the first 
day at an early hour, so as to see and become acquainted 
with the scholars as they come in one by one. He may 
take an interest with them in all the little arrangements 
connected with the opening of the school, — the build- 
ing of the fire, the paths through the snow, the arrange- 
ment of seats : calling upon them for information or 
aid, asking their names, and, in a word, entering fully 
and freely into conversation with them, just as a parent 
under similar circumstances would do with his children. 
All the children thus addressed will be pleased with the 
gentleness and affability of the teacher. Even a rough 
and ill-natured boy, who has perhaps come to the school 
with the express determination of attempting to make 



252 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

mischief, will be completely disarmed by being asked 
pleasantly to help the teacher fix the fire, or alter the 
position of a desk. Thus by means of the half hour 
during which the scholars are coming together, the 
teacher will find when he calls upon the children to 
take their seats that he has made a large number of 
them his personal friends. Many of these will have 
communicated their first impressions to others, so that 
he will find himself possessed, at the outset, of that 
which is of vital consequence in opening any adminis- 
tration — a strong party in his favor." 

It will be well for the teacher for several days, both 
in the morning and afternoon, to be early at the school- 
room. He can thus continue his friendly intercourse 
with the pupils, and effectually prevent any concerted 
action among them at that hour to embarrass his gov- 
ernment. 

Many a school has been seriously injured, if not 
broken up, by the scholars' being allowed to assem- 
ble early at the school with nothing to occupy them 
and no one to restrain them. Having so convenient 
an opportunity for mischief, their youthful activity 
will be very likely to find egress in an evil direction. 
Many a tale of roguery could be told, founded upon 
the incidents of the schoolroom before school hours, 
if those who have good memories would but reveal 
their own experience ; — roguery that never would 
have occurred had the teacher adopted the course here 
suggested. 

SECTION I. PLAN OF THE DAy's WORK 

It may be remembered by many of the readers of 
this volume, that in former times numerous teachers 



SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS 253 

were accustomed to work without a plan, attempting 
to do their work just as it happened to demand atten- 
tion, but never taking the precaution to have this de- 
mand under their own control. If one scholar or class 
was not ready to recite, another would be called ; and 
there being no particular time for the various exercises, 
the school would become a scene of mere listlessness ; 
and the teacher would hardly know how to find em- 
ployment for himself in the school. 

r shall make this point clearer by an example. Hav- 
ing occasion, in an official capacity, to visit a school 
which had been kept by a young teacher some two 
weeks, she very naturally asked — '* What shall I do 
first, this afternoon } " 

" Do precisely as you would if I had not come in," 
was the reply. 

She looked a little perplexed. At length she doubt- 
ingly asked the class, — " Is the geography lesson 
ready .-^ " 

"Yes, m'm " — " No, m'm " — *' Yes, m'm " — was the 
ambiguous reply from the class. There was so much 
of veto in the looks of the young geographers that it 
amounted to prohibition. 

*' Well, are the scholars in Colburn's arithmetic 
ready .? " 

This was said with more of hope ; but the same 
equivocal answer was vociferated from all parts of the 
room. The teacher, placing her finger upon her lip, 
looked around despairingly ; but, at last recollecting 
one more resort, she said, — " Is the grammar class 
ready .? " 

Again came the changes on " Yes, m'm " and '' No, 
m'm." 



254 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

The teacher gave up, and asked what she should do. 
She was again told to go on as usual for that afternoon. 
It was a tedious afternoon to her, as it was to her visitor. 
She at length called one of the classes, unprepared as 
many of them said they were, and the exercise showed 
that none but those who said '' Yes, m'm " were mis- 
taken. The whole afternoon seemed to be one of pain 
and mortification to all concerned ; and I fancied I could 
almost read in the knitted brow of the teacher a decla- 
ration that that should be her last school. 

At the close of the afternoon a single hint was sug- 
gested to her, — viz., that she should make out a list of 
her scholars' duties, and the times when they would be 
expected to recite their several lessons. She was told 
that it would be well to explain this plan of her day's 
work to her school in the morning, and then never again 
ask zvJietJier a class ivas ready. The hint was taken ; 
and on subsequent visitations the several classes were 
ever ready to respond to the call of their instructor. 

Now this matter is no unimportant one to the teacher. 
Indeed I judge of a teacher's ability very much by the 
wisdom and tact with which he apportions his time for 
his own duties, and divides the time of his scholars 
between their studies and recitations. 

In order to aid the young teacher in forming a plan 
for himself, I subjoin a scheme of a days duties, adapted 
to a school of the simplest grade. Suppose a school to 
consist of thirty scholars, and that the teacher finds 
by inquiry and by examination that there may be four 
grand divisions ; the first, which he designates [A], may 
unite in pursuing Reading, Grammar, Mental Arith- 
metic, Written Arithmetic, and Writing. The second, 
[B], can pursue Reading, Spelling, Writing, Geography, 



SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS 255 

Mental and Written Arithmetic. The third, [C], attend 
to Reading, Spelling, Mental Arithmetic, Writing, and 
Geography. The fourth, [D], consisting of the small 
pupils, attend to Reading, Spelling, Tables, and sundry 
slate exercises. 

Now it is very desirable that as much time should 
be devoted to recitation as can be afforded to each class. 
It may be seen at once that in certain studies, as ge- 
ography, mental arithmetic, and spelling — the teacher 
can as well attend to fifteen at once as to seven. In 
these studies, unless the disparity in age and attainment 
is very great, two divisions can very properly be united. 
All can be taught writing at once, thus receiving the 
teacher's undivided attention for the time. Besides, it 
is necessary to reserve some little time for change of 
exercises, and also for the interruptions which must 
necessarily occur. The recesses are to be provided for, 
and some time may be needed for investigation of 
violations of duty and for the punishment of offenders. 
All this variety of work will occur in every school, even 
the smallest. 

Now if the teacher does not arrange this in accord- 
ance with some plan, he will be very much perplexed, 
even in a small school ; and how much more in a large 
one ! He will do well very carefully to consider the 
relative importance of each exercise to be attended to, 
and then to write out his scheme somewhat after the 
following model. 

It must not be forgotten that stndyiiig is also to be 
provided for, and that it is just as important that the 
pupils should be regular in this as in recitation. Indeed, 
without such regularity, he cannot expect acceptable 
recitations. 



256 



THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 



PROGRAMME 

For the above supposed circumstances 



Tivie. 


M. 


Recitations, etc. 


Studies. 


9 to 9. IS 


15 


Reading, Script,, & Prayer. 




9.15 to 9.40 


25 


D. Reading, Spelling, or 1 
Tables. \ 


A. Reading; B. Arith. ; 
C. Geography. 


9.40 to 9.42 


2 


Rest, Change of Classes, etc. 




9.42 to 10 


18 


A. Reading. 


( B. Arith. ; C. Geog. ; 
( D. Slates. 


10 to 10.5 


5 


( Rest, Singing, or An- \ 
\ swering Questions. S 




10.5 to 10.25 


20 


B. Arithmetic. 


( A. Gram. ; C. Geog. ; 
{ D. Books or Cards. 


10,25 to 10.28 


3 


Rest, etc. 




10.28 to 10.48 


20 


B. & C. Geography. 


A. Gram. ; D. Recess. 


10.48 to II 


12 


Recess. 




II to II. 15 
II. 15 to 11.35 
11.35 to 11.50 


15 
20 

15 


D. Reading, etc. 

A. Grammar. 

B. & C. Spelling. 


( A. Gram.; B. M. Arith.; 

{ C. Spelling. 

\ B. Spelling; C. Spelling; 

\ D. Slates. 

j A. M. Arith.; D. Books 

( or Cards. 


11.50 to 12 


10 


General Exercise. 








Intermission. 




2 to 2.15 

2.15 to 2.45 
2.45 to 3.10 

3.10 to 3.30 


15 

30 
25 
20 


D. Reading, Spelling, Tables. 

A. B. & C. Writing. 

A. & B. Mental Arithmetic. 

C. Reading. 


\ A. Arith.; B. Reading; 

/ C. Reading. 

D. Slates. 

C. M. Arith. ; D. Recess. 

) A. Arith.; B. Arith.; 

( D. Books, etc. 


3.30 to 3.40 


10 


Recess. 




3.40 to 4 


20 


B. Reading. 


\ A. Arith.; C. M. Arith.; 
1 D. Drawing. 


4 to 4.5 


5 


Rest or Singing. 




4-5 to 4.25 
4.25 to 4.55 


20 
30 


C. Mental Arithmetic. 
A. Arithmetic. 


{ A. Read. ; B. Arith. or 
1 Draw.; D. Slates. 
( B. Arith. or Draw. ; C. 
( Draw.; D. Dismissed. 


4-55 to 5 


5 


Gen. Exer. and Dismission. 





SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS 257 

Remai'ks 

In the foregoing programme the first cokmin shows 
the division of tiiiie and the portion allowed to each 
exercise. I need not say the teacher should be strictly 
punctual. To this end a clock is a very desirable 
article in the school. Both teacher and pupils would 
be benefited by it. The second column shows the 
recitations, admitting perhaps some variety, especially 
in case of the younger children; while the third shows 
the occiLpatioii of those classes which are not engaged 
in recitation. It will be seen that the classes are study- 
ing those lessons which they are soon to recite; and, 
as in this case it is supposed that all the lessons will 
be learned in school, each one has been provided for. 
It would be well, however, in practice to require one 
of the studies to be learned out of school, in which 
case no time should be allowed to the stndy of that 
branch in the programme. 

It will be perceived that drawing is placed as the 
occupation of the younger classes near the close of the 
afternoon. This is based upon the supposition that 
the teacher during recess has placed an example on 
the blackboard to be copied by the children upon their 
slates. This is perhaps the most effectual way to teach 
drawing to children. Those more advanced, however, 
may use paper and pencil and draw from an engraved 
copy, or from a more finished specimen furnished from 
the teacher's portfolio. It is essential that the teacher 
should, if possible, give some specimens of his own in 
this branch. I have seldom known a teacher to excite 
an interest in drawing who relied altogether upon en- 
gravings as models for imitation. 

B.-P. THE. &- PR. TEACHING — 1 7 



258 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

It should be remarked further concerning such a pro- 
gramme, that in case of an assistant in the school two 
columns under the head of Recitations should be formed 
— one for the principal's classes and one for the assist- 
ant's. If there are a few talented scholars who are able 
to do more than their class, they can be allowed to join 
some of the classes out of their division, or they may be 
provided with an extra study, which will not need daily 
recitation. 

In case the school is much larger than the one sup- 
posed above, and the classes necessarily so numerous 
as to make the time allowed to each study very short, 
then the principle of alternation may be introduced ; 
that is, some studies may be recited Mondays, Wednes- 
days, and Fridays, — and some other studies, with other 
classes, take their places on the alternate days. It is 
decidedly better for the teacher to meet a class, in 
arithmetic for instance, especially of older pupils, but 
twice or three times a week, having time enough at 
each meeting to make thorough work, than to meet 
them daily, but for a time so short as to accomplish 
but little. The same remark may be applied to read- 
ing, and indeed almost any other branch. The idea is 
a mischievous one, that every class in reading, or in any 
other branch, must be called out four times a day, or 
even twice a day, — except in the case of very young 
children. It may be compared to nibbling at a cracker 
as many times in a day, without once taking a hearty 
meal, — a process which would emaciate any child in 
the course of three months. These scanty nibblings 
at the table of knowledge, so often and so tenaciously 
practiced, may perhaps account for the mental emacia- 
tion so often discoverable in many of our schools. 



SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS 259 

The difficulty of classifying and arranging the exer- 
cises of a school becomes greater as the number of 
teachers to be employed increases ; and there is much 
greater inconvenience in allowing any pupils to study 
out of their own division when the number of teachers 
is more than one or two. Few are aware of the diffi- 
culty of arranging the exercises of a large school, but 
those who have experienced it. It can be done, how- 
ever ; and it should always be done as soon as possible 
after commencing the school. 

If at any time the arrangement when made is not 
found to be perfect, it is not wise to change it at once. 
Let it go on a few days, and watch its defects with 
great care ; and in the meantime study out of school to 
devise a better. When this has been accomplished and 
committed to paper, and perfectly comprehended by the 
teacher, it may be posted up in the schoolroom, and the 
day announced when it will go into operation. It will 
soon be understood by the pupils and the change can 
thus be made without the loss of time. 

Time for reviews of the various lessons could be 
found by setting aside the regular lessons for some par- 
ticular day, once a week, or once in two weeks ; and for 
composition, declamation, etc., a half day should be 
occasionally or periodically assigned. 

If I have devoted considerable space to this subject 
it is because I deem it of great importance to the 
teacher's success. With one other remark I dismiss 
it. This model is not given to be servilely copied. 
It is given to illustrate the great principle. The 
circumstances of schools will be found to vary so 
widely that no model, however perfect in itself, would 



26o THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

answer for all. The teacher must exercise his own 
ingenuity and judgment to meet his own wants ; and 
in general it may be remarked that where a teacher 
has not the skill to adapt his own plans to his own 
circumstances, he can hardly be expected to succeed 
in carrying out the plans of another. 

SECTION II. INTERRUPTIONS . 

In every school consisting of pupils of different ages 
and circumstances, there will be more or less of inter- 
ruption to the general order and employment of the 
school. Some of the pupils have never been trained 
to system at home ; perhaps most of them may have 
been positively taught to disregard it at school. At 
any rate, "it must needs be," in this particular, "that 
offenses come." Nor should the teacher lose his pa- 
tience though he should be often disturbed by the 
thoughtlessness of his pupils. He should expect it as 
a matter of course and exercise his ingenuity as far as 
possible to prevent it. It may well be one of his 
sources of enjoyment to witness an improvement in 
the habits of his pupils in regard to system. 

These interruptions proceed from various causes, — 
such as soliciting leave to speak, or to go ouf ; asking 
for some assistance in learning lessons, or for leave to 
drink, or to stand by the fire ; requesting the teacher 
to mend pens, or to set copies ; disorderly conduct in 
pupils, making it necessary in his judgment to admin- 
ister reproof or punishment in the midst of other duties, 
— and sometimes the vociferous and impatient making 
of complaints by one scholar against another. 

How many times I have seen a teacher involved in 
indescribable perplexity while trying to perform thQ 



SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS 261 

duty of instruction and to " get through " in time. 
While hearing a grammar lesson, a scholar brings up 
his atlas to have some place pointed out which he had 
upon one trial failed to find. The teacher turning to 
look for the place is addressed with " Please mend my 
pen," from another quarter. Having the knife in hand, as 
if such things were to be expected, the obliging teacher 
takes the pen, and holding it between his eyes and the 
atlas, endeavors to shape its nib and to discover the 
city at the same glance. . ''Jane keeps a pinching me," 

— vociferates a little girl who is seated behind the class. 
''Jane, Jane," says the teacher, turning away from both 
the nib and the city, " Jane, come to me instantly." Jane, 
with the guilty fingers thrust far into her mouth, makes 
her way sidling toward the teacher. " May I go out ? " 

— says John, who is thinking only of his own conven- 
ience. "No, no" — answers the teacher, a little pet- 
tishly, as if conscious that in a crisis like this a request 
simply to breathe more freely is scarcely justifiable. 
''Please, sir, let me and Charles go out and get a pail 
of water." This is said by a little shrewd-looking, 
round-faced, hght-haired boy who has learned how to 
select his time, and to place the emphasis upon the 
''please, sir.'' The teacher by this time being consid- 
erably fretted by such an accumulation of business on 
his hands very naturally thinks of the refreshment con- 
tained in a pail of cool water, and very good-naturedly 
answers the little urchin in the affirmative, who most 
likely is by this time more than half way out of the 
door, so confident is he of success. Just at this junc- 
ture a considerate-looking miss in the class earnestly 
appeals to the teacher to know if the word next but 
three to the last was not a common noiui, thous^h called 



262 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

a conjtmction ! This reminds the teacher that several 
words have been parsed without his notice, and he asks 
the class to ''stop there." Glancing at his watch he 
discovers that he has gone three minutes beyond the 
time for recess, and he relieves himself by saying, 
" Boys may go out." This grants a truce to all parties. 
The pen goes back unmended, the atlas with its sought 
city undiscovered; John ''goes out" now by common 
law, taking to himself the credit of this happy release, 
as he asked only to remind the master that it was time 
for recess ; Jane takes both thumb and finger from her 
precious little mouth, and smiling seats herself by the 
side of her late challenger, who is by this time more 
than half repentant of her own impatience ; the shrewd- 
looking urchin and his companion return with the re- 
freshing pail of water, — the boys and girls gather 
round to obtain the first draught, while the little chubby- 
faced lad comes forward clothed in smiles with a cup 
filled with the cooling liquid on purpose for the mas- 
ter ; the boon is accepted, the perplexed brow becomes 
placid, and all is sunshine again. — This is not a very 
extravagant picture of the interruptions in a district 
school. Those who have been brought up in such a 
school will recognize the fidelity of the likeness, as it 
has been drawn from nature. 

Now whoever has any knowledge of human nature 
and of school teaching will at once see that this is all 
wrong. It is a law of our being that we can do well 
but one thing at a time. He who attempts more must 
do what he attempts but very imperfectly. There was 
a great deal of wisdom embodied in that motto which 
used to be placed in the old Lancasterian schools : 

"A TIME FOR EVERYTHING. AND EVERYTHING IN ITS 



SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS 263 

TIME." It should be one of the mottoes of every 
teacher. In the construction of the plan or programme 
for the day's duties, great care should be taken to pro- 
vide for all these little things. If whispering is to be 
allowed at all in school let it come into one of the inter- 
vals between recitations. If assistance in getting les- 
sons is to be asked and rendered, let it be done at a 
time assigned for the special purpose. As far as pos- 
sible, except in extreme cases, let the discipline be 
attended to at the time of general exercise, or some 
other period assigned to it, so that there shall not be 
a ludicrous mixture of punishments and instruction dur- 
ing the progress of a class exercise. 

It is pleasant to visit a school where everything is 
done and well done at its proper time. Teaching under 
such circumstances becomes a delightful employment. 
But where all is confusion and the teacher allows him- 
self by the accumulation of irregularities to be oppressed 
and perplexed, it is one of the most wearing and un- 
desirable vocations on earth. The teacher goes to his 
lodgings harassed with care, oppressed with a con- 
sciousness of the imperfection of his labors, and ex- 
hausted by the unnatural and unwarrantable tax 
imposed upon his mental faculties. He groans under 
the burden incident to his calling and longs to escape 
from it, never once dreaming, perhaps, that he has the 
power of relieving himself by the introduction of sys- 
tem, and thus changing his former babel into a scene of 
quietness and order. 

SECTION III. — RECESSES 

In speaking of the arrangements of a school, the sub- 
ject of recesses demands attention. It is the belief of 



264 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

many enlightened instructors that the confinement in 
most of our schools is still too protracted, and that 
more time devoted to relaxation would be profitable 
both to the physical and the mental constitution of our 
youth. Some have urged a recess of a few minutes 
every hour in order to afford opportunity for a change 
of position and a change of air. This could better be 
done in schools composed only of one sex, or where the 
accommodation of separate yards and playgrounds per- 
mits both sexes to take a recess at the same time. 
Where these accommodations are wanting, and one sex 
must wait while the other is out, the time required for 
two recesses in half a day for the whole school could 
scarcely be afforded. I am of the opinion, as our 
schools are at present composed, that one recess in the 
half day for each sex is all that can be allowed. The 
question then is, how can that one recess be made most 
conducive for the purposes for which it is designed .^ 

I. As to its duration. Ten minutes is the least time 
that should be thought of, if the children are to be kept 
closely confined to study during the remainder of the 
three hours' session ; that is, ten minutes for each sex. 
It would be a very desirable thing if our schoolhouses 
could be so furnished with separate playgrounds and 
separate outdoor accommodations that both sexes could 
take recess at the same time. This would save much 
time to the district in the course of a term, and it would 
also give opportunity for thoroughly ventilating the 
room during recess, while it would afford the teacher 
opportunity to take the air, and overlook the sports of 
the children to some extent, — a matter of no small 
importance. 

Where these facilities are wanting, and the teacher 



SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS 26$ 

must remain within to preside over the one half of the 
school while the others are out, he may still give ten 
minutes at least to each sex, contriving to employ 
profitably the time within doors. He may reserve this 
time for settling such difficulties as may have risen in 
the school ; he may administer reproofs, inflict his pun- 
ishments if any are necessary, or he may spend the time 
in giving assistance to the pupils, or in drawing upon 
the blackboard for the advantage of the younger pupils 
as they come in. In a large school, where a longer re- 
cess is the more necessary on account of the bad air of 
the schoolroom, he will find the more duty to be done 
at this time ; so that in any event the time need not be 
lost, even \i fiftee^i minutes be allowed to each sex. 

2. As to the pi'oper Jiour for recess. It was an old rule 
to have recess when ''school zvas half doiie^ Indeed, 
this expression was often used as synonymous with re- 
cess in many districts twenty-five years ago. It is now 
generally thought better to have the recess occur later, 
perhaps when the school session is two thirds past. It 
is found that children, accustomed to exercise all the 
morninsf, can better bear the confinement of the first 
two hours than they can that of the third, even though 
the recess immediately precedes the third. In a school 
the half-daily sessions of which are three hours, I 
should recommend that the recess be introduced so 
as to terminate at the close of the second hour. As 
far as possible it would be well to have all the pupils 
leave the room at the time recess is given them ; and 
as a general thing they should not ask leave to go out 
at any other time. A little system in this matter is as 
desirable as in any other, and it is quite as feasible. 

In a school composed partly of very young children 



266 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

there is no difficulty in giving such children two recesses 
each half day. Nor is there any objection to such a 
course. It is more irksome to young children to bear 
confinement than to the adult ; especially as they cannot 
be expected to be constantly occupied. It will relieve 
the teacher very much to have the children go out of the 
room as soon as they become fatigued, and as it will pro- 
mote their own health and happiness, to go, it is very jus- 
tifiable to grant them the privilege. This may properly 
and easily be provided for upon the programme. 

SECTION IV. ASSIGNING LESSONS 

Many teachers fail in this department. Judging of 
the difficulty of the lesson by the ease with which they 
can acquire it, even in a text-book new to themselves, 
they not unfrequently assign more than can possibly be 
learned by the children. They forget that by long dis- 
cipline of mind, and by the aid of much previously 
acquired knowledge, the lesson becomes comparatively 
easy to them ; they forget, too, the toil a similar lesson 
cost them when they were children. Now the effect of 
poorly learning a lesson is most ruinous to the mind of 
a child. He, by the habit of missing, comes to think it 
a small thing to fail at recitation. He loses his self- 
respect. He loses all regard for his reputation as a 
scholar. It is truly deplorable to see a child fail in a 
lesson with indifference. Besides, the attempt to ac- 
quire an unreasonable lesson induces superficial habit 
of study, — a skimming over the surface of things. 
The child studies that he may live through the recita- 
tion ; not that he may learn and remember. He passes 
thus through a book and thinks himself wise while he is 
yet a fool, — a mistake that is no less common than fatal. 



SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS 26/ 

The motto of the wise teacher should be : '' Not 
HOW MUCH, BUT HOW WELL." He should always ask, 
is \t possible that the child can master this lesson, and 
probable that he zuillf It is better that a class should 
make but very slow progress for several weeks, if they 
but acquire the habit of careful study and a pride of 
good scholarship — a dread of failure, — than that they 
should ramble over a whole field, firing at random, miss- 
ing oftener than they hit the mark, and acquiring a 
stupid indifference to their reputation as marksmen, and 
a prodigal disregard to their waste cf ammunition, and 
their loss of the game. 

In assigning lessons the importance of good habits of 
study should be considered, and the lessons given ac- 
cordingly. At the commencement of a term the les- 
sons should always be short, till the ability of the pupils 
is well understood, and their habits as good students 
established. As the term progresses, they can be gradu- 
ally lengthened as the capacity of the class will warrant 
or their own desire will demand. 

It is frequently judicious to consult the class about 
the length of the lessons ; though to be sure their 
judgment cannot always be reHed on, for they are 
almost always ready to undertake more than they 
can well perform. Assigning, however, somewhat less 
than they propose, will take from them all excuse for 
failure. 

When the lesson is given, a failure should be looked 
upon as a culpable dereliction of duty, as incompatible 
with a good conscience as it is with good scholar- 
ship. This high ground cannot be taken, however, 
unless the teacher has been very judicious in the assign- 
ment of the lesson. 



268 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 
SECTION V. REVIEWS 

In the prosecution of study by any class of students 
frequent reviews are necessary. This is so, because the 
memory is very much aided by repetition and by asso- 
ciation. But further, the understanding is often very 
much improved by a review. Many of the sciences 
cannot be presented in independent- parts nor can all 
the terms employed be fully appreciated till these parts 
are again viewed as a whole. Many things which were 
but dimly seen the first time they were passed over, 
become perfectly clear to the mind when viewed after- 
ward in connection with what follows them. 

In conducting reviews regard must be had to the age 
and character of the pupils and to the branch pursued. 
In arithmetic, and indeed in mathematics generally, 
where so much depends upon every link in the great 
chain, very frequent reviews are necessary. Indeed, 
almost daily it is profitable to call up some principle 
before gone over. In several branches, where the 
parts have a less intimate connection, as in geography, 
natural philosophy, and some others, the reviews may 
be at greater intervals. It would be well, I think, in 
every common school, to have a review day once a 
week. This, besides the advantages already indicated, 
will lead the children to study for something beyond 
recitation. Nor is it enough, at the review, that the 
questions of the text-book be again proposed to the 
children. If this be all they will only exercise their 
memories. As far as possible the subject should be 
called up and application of principles to practical life 
should be dwelt upon. If this course is expected by 
the learners, they will tJiink during the week in order to 



SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS 269 

anticipate the examination of the teacher ; and this think- 
ing is more profitable to them than the knowledge itself. 
It is always well, besides the periodical reviews, to 
have a general review at the close of any particular 
study. This enables the teacher to detect any false 
conceptions which the pupil has entertained during the 
first course. He can now present the subject as a 
whole, and view one part by the light of another. In 
natural philosophy, how much better the law of re- 
flected motion can be appreciated after the subject of 
optics has been studied, in which the doctrine of reflec- 
tion in general has been fully discussed and illustrated. 
In physiology, what light is thrown upon the process 
of growth in the system by the subsequent chapters on 
absorption and secretion ! How much clearer is the 
economy of respiration understood when viewed in con- 
nection with the circulation of the blood ! A general 
review then is an enlightening process, and it is always 
profitable with perhaps one exception. When it is 
instituted with reference to a public examination, it 
is very doubtful whether the evil is not greater than 
the good. It then degenerates into an effort to appear 
well at a particular time ; it is again studying in order 
to recite ; and I look upon it as no small evil, that the 
mind should have any object in view which comes in 
between it and the grand desire to know, — to master 
the subject for its own sake, and not simply for the 
purpose of being able to talk about it on one great 
occasion. 

SECTION VI. PUBLIC EXAMINATIONS, ETC. 

It is now the usage in all our schools to have public 
examinations, — generally at the close of a term, or a 



270 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

portion of a term, — in order to test in some measure 
the industry and skill of the teacher and the proficiency 
of the pupils. I am hardly prepared to oppose this 
usage, because I am inclined to believe examinations 
are of some utility as a means of awakening an interest 
in the parents of the children ; perhaps they do some- 
thing to stimulate school officers, and also to excite to 
greater effort during the term both the teacher and the 
pupils. Still, public examinations as frequently con- 
ducted are not without serious objections. 

1. They certainly cannot be looked upon as criterions 
of the faithfulness or success of teachers. A man with 
tact, and witJwut honesty, may make his school appear 
to far greater advantage than a better man can make a 
better school appear. This has often happened. It is 
not the most faithful and thorough teaching that makes 
the show and attracts the applause at a public exhibi- 
tion. It is the superficial, mechanical, memoriter exer- 
cise that is most imposing. Who has not seen a class 
that recited by note and in conce7't at a celebration win 
the largest approbation, when many of the individuals 
knew not the import of the words they uttered. Naines 
in geography have been thus " said or sung," when the 
things signified were to the children as really terrce in- 
cognitcB as the fairylands of Sinbad the Sailor. 

2. Nor can such exhibitions be claimed justly to in- 
dicate the proficiency of the pupils. Every experienced 
teacher knows that the best scholars often fail at a 
public examination, and the most indolent and superfi- 
cial often distinguish themselves. The spectators not 
unfrequently in pointing out the talent of the school 
make the teacher smile at their blunders. 

3. They present a strong temptation to dishonesty 



SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS 2/1 

on the part of the teacher. Since so much stress is laid 
upon the examination, and particularly in some regions 
upon the Celebration, where several schools are brought 
together to make a show for a few hours, it must be 
rather an uncommon man who will have sufficient prin- 
ciple to exhibit his school as it is, and refuse to make 
those efforts so very common to have it appear zvhat it 
is not. The wish, expressed or implied, of the parents, 
and the ambition of the children all conspire to make 
the teacher yield to a usage so common. Consequently, 
several weeks will be spent to prepare the children to 
appear in public. During this time, they study not for 
improvement, not for future usefulness, but simply to 
make a shozv at the public celebration. An unworthy 
and unwarrantable motive actuates them during all this 
process ; and at last, unless strangely benighted, they 
are conscious of holding up a false- appearance to the 
world. Now, under such circumstances, whatever of 
good is effected by way of enkindling a zeal in the par- 
ents is dearly purchased. The sacrifice of principle in 
a teacher — much more in the children — is a large 
price to pay for the applause of a few visitors, or even 
for an increase of interest among them in the cause of 
popular education. 

Examinations, however, which are less showy and 
which are of such a character as thoroughly to sift the 
teachings that have been given, and to thwart any in- 
genious efforts specially to prepare for them — examina- 
tions that look back to the general teaching of the term, 
or the year, and test the accuracy and thoroughness of 
the instruction — are unquestionably very desirable and 
useful. To make them so in the highest sense, and to 
exempt them from an evil tendency upon the minds of 



2/2 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

the young themselves, tJie teacher should be sUnctly hon- 
est. Not a lesson should be given with sole reference 
to the exhibition at the close; not an exercise should be 
omitted because the examination approaches. The good 
teacher should keep those great motives before the mind 
which look to future usefulness and to the discharge of 
duty. The child should be taught that he is accounta- 
ble for what he acquires, and what he may acquire, and 
not for what he may appear to have acquired ; and that 
this accountabihty is not confined to a single day, soon 
to pass and be forgotten ; but it runs through all time 
and all eternity. 

I know not but the expectation of an examination 
may stimulate some to greater exertion and make them 
better scholars. If this be so, it may be well enough ; 
and yet I should be slow to present such a motive to 
the mind of a child, because a special or secondary 
accountability always detracts from the general and 
chief. 

A strong reason, in addition to those already assigned, 
why special preparation should not be made for the ex- 
amination, is, that where such preparation is expected, 
the pupils become careless in their ordinary exercises. 

While, then, I think too much stress is at present 
placed upon showy exhibitions and celebrations, and 
that objections and dangers attend examinations, as fre- 
quently conducted, I would not recommend altogether 
their discontinuance. I would rather urge that the 
teacher, by his inflexible honesty, should make them 
fair representations of the actual condition of his school, 
without relying very much upon them as a means of 
stimulating the pupils to exertion ; that the pupils should 
be made to feel that the results of their exertion through 



SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS 2/3 

the term, rather than a few special efforts near its close, 
would be brought into review ; that no hypocrisy or 
management should ever be tolerated in order to win 
the applause of the multitude ; that no particular les- 
sons should ever be assigned for the occasion ; that it 
should be remembered that the moral effect of an occa- 
sional failure at examination will be more salutary upon 
the school than unbroken success ; and that the chil- 
dren are irreparably injured when they are made in any 
way the wiUing instruments of false pretension. 

Under such circumstances examinations may be prof- 
itable to all concerned. If teacher and pupils have done 
well, they have the opportunity of showing it with- 
out violence to their own consciences. The employers, 
and patrons too, have some means of forming a correct 
estimate of the value of their school ; and all parties 
may be encouraged and stimulated. But above all 

things, LET THE TEACHER BE HONEST. 
TOPICAL OUTLINE 

I . The First Day of School. 

Read: Baldwin's Art of School Management, pp. 114- 
117. 
DeGrafifs Schoolroom Guide, pp. 390-406. 

1. Have a plan to start with. 

(i) The value of having one. 

(2) The results of not having one. 

2. Suggestions. 

(i) Before the opening day : 

a. Visit the community. Form acquaintances 

pleasantly. 

b. Ascertain the situation thoroughly. 

c. Get hold of the former teacher's class records 

and daily programme. 

d. Learn his methods and plans. 

B.-P. THE. & PR. TEACHING — l8 



2/4 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

e. Discourage disparagement of him. 

f. Visit the schoolhouse and set it to rights. 

(2) The opening day : 

a. Get to the schoolhouse early. 

b. Begin on time. 

c. Opening exercises. 

d. Only the briefest speech. Get to work. 

e. Adopt your predecessors classifications and 

programme and vary from these gradually 
and adroitly, as may be necessary later. 

f. Make class rolls quickly as classes are called, 

and assign lessons rapidly. 

g. Settle down to work regularly. 

h. Close with a pleasant, general exercise. 

3. Working without a well-planned daily programme. 

(i) Illustration. 
(2) The effects of it. 

4. A specimen programme. 

Read : Baldwin's Art of School Management, 
Part IV., Chap. V. 
White's School Management, pp. 86-94. 
(i) Follow your programme faithfully. Perfect it 
gradually. 

(2) Indicate a system of study periods as well as of 

recitation periods. 

(3) Assign reasonable home work. 

(4) Have drawing in your school. 

Read: Spencer's Education, pp. 127-134. (Mil- 
lar & Co.) 

(5) Provide for reviews, compositions, declamations, 

etc. 

5. Things to be considered in constructing a programme. 

(i) An equable distribution of recitations. 

(2) Ample work periods between recitations. 

(3) Earlier in the day, heavier work and longer periods 

between recesses. 

(4) Relieving the strain of heavy work with lighter 

occupations. 

(5) As few classes as possible. 



SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS 2/5 

II. Interniption. 

1. Discourage and gradually abolish interruptions during 

recitations. 

2. Provide stated intervals for them. 

III. Recesses. 

1 . A short recess each half session, and a longer noon in- 

termission. 

2. Time between the recesses gradually shortened as the 

day advances. 

3. Separate playgrounds for the sexes. 

4. An unobtrusive oversight of the playgrounds is necessary. 

5. Use the recesses for the extra duties and demands of the 

day. 

6. Leaving the room between recesses will need to be re- 

duced to a minimum. 

I V . Assigning Lessons . 

1 . At the beginning of the recitation as a rule, with explicit 

directions. 

2. Teacher must consider the average ability of the class. 

3. Teacher must assign lessons reasonably and require them 

rigidly. 

(i) Effects of accepting poorly prepared work. 

(2) Effects of overtaxing classes. 

(3) The treatment of failures. 

4. Good habits of study must be cultivated. 

(i) The importance, of learning how to learn. 

Read : Morgan's Studies in Pedagogy, Chap. 
IX. 
Baldwin's Art of School Management, 
pp. 287-299. 
V. Reviews. 

1 . Frequent regular reviews. 

2. Necessary both to memory and understanding. ' 

3. They settle knowledge into habit. 

4. Good reviews are orderly. They help the pupil to or- 

ganize his knowledge. 

5. They are necessary to test the weak places in the teach- 

ing and the learning. 

6. They look forward to benefits beyond the recitation. 



2/6 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

VI. Public Examinatio7is. 

1. Their value. 

2. Objections to the usual school exhibition. 

(i) It does not exhibit the teacher or the teaching 
faithfully. 

(2) Does not justly exhibit the proficiency of the 

pupils. 

(3) Easily arouses unworthy motives in both teachers 

and pupils. 

(4) Tempts the teacher to dishonesty and breaks 

down the pupils' sense of honor. 

(5) Pupils become careless of ordinary and usual 

duties ; the school easily drops into disorder. 

3. An honest exhibition. 

(i) What is necessary to make it so. 

SUBJECTS FOR DISCUSSION OR ESSAYS 

1 . The Educational Values of Drawing. 

Spencer's Education, pp. 127-134. (Ed. of Millar & Co., N.Y.) 
Morgan's Educational Mosaics, p. 264. 
Swett's Methods of Teaching, p. 182. 
Compayre's Lectures on Pedagogy, pp. 417-427. 

2. Good and Bad Habits of Study. 

Morgan's Studies in Pedagogy, Chap. IX. 
Baldwin's Art of School Management, pp. 287-299. 
Hoose's Province of Method in Teaching, pp. 163-176. 
Morgan's Educational Mosaics, p. 180. 
Todd's Student's Manual, Chap. III. 
■X. Show and Sham in Education. 



CHAPTER XII 

THE TEACHER^S RELATION TO THE PARENTS OF 
HIS PUPILS 

He has a chance to teach his school well upon the inside, who 
knows how to influence the community well upon the outside. 

I. The teacher sJioiild carefully cultivate the social 
side of his ftature. In the choice of a clergyman, after 
estimating his moral and religious character and ascer- 
taining the order of his pulpit talents, a third question 
remains to be answered, viz. : What are his qualifica- 
tions as a pastor? How is he adapted to fulfill the 
various relations of private friend and counselor ; and 
in the family circle, in his intercourse with the aged and 
the young, how is he fitted to 

" Allure to brighter worlds and lead the way " ? 

In that sacred profession every one knows that nearly 
as much good is to be done by private intercourse as in 
the public ministration. Many a heart can be reached 
by a friendly and informal conversation, that would 
remain unmoved by the most powerful eloquence from 
the pulpit. Besides, many are prepared to be profited 
in the public exercises by that intercourse in private 
which has opened their hearts, removed prejudice, and 
engendered a feeling of friendly interest in the preacher. 
The admonitions of the gospel thus have the double 

277 



2/8 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

power of being truth, and truth uttered by the lips of a 
valued friend. 

It is to some extent thus with the school-teacher. 
He may be very learned and very apt to teach and 
yet fail of success in his district. Hence it is highly 
important that he should possess and carefully cultivate 
those social qualities which will greatly increase his 
usefulness. The teacher should consider it a part of 
his duty whenever he enters a district to excite a deeper 
interest there among the patrons of the school than 
they have ever before felt. He should not be satisfied 
till he has reached every mind connected with his 
charge in such a way that they will cheerfully cooper- 
ate with him and sustain his judicious efforts for good. 
Being imbued with a deep feeling of the importance of 
his work, he should let them see that he is alive to the 
interests of their children. To this end, — 

2. He should seek frequent opportunities of social intei^- 
course with the parents. Though the advances toward 
this point, by the strict rules of etiquette, should be 
made by the parents themselves — (as by some it is 
actually and seasonably done) — yet, as a general thing, 
taking the world as we find it, the teacher must lead 
the way. He must often introduce himself uninvited 
to the people among whom he dwells, calling at their 
homes in the spirit of his vocation, and conversing with 
them freely about his duty to their children and to 
themselves. Every parent of course will feel bound to 
be courteous and civil in his own house ; and, by such 
an interview, perhaps a difference of opinion, a preju- 
dice, or a suspicion may be removed, and the founda- 
tion of a mutual good understanding be laid, which 
many little troubles can never shake. It may be very 



TEACHER'S RELATION TO THE PARENTS 279 

useful to have an interview with such parents as have 
been disturbed by some administration of discipline 
upon members of their famiUes. Let me not be under- 
stood, however, to recommend that the teacher should 
ever go to the parent in a cringing, unmanly spirit. It 
would probably be far better that the parties should 
ever remain entire strangers, than that their meeting 
should necessarily be an occasion of humiliating retrac- 
tion on the part of the teacher. Neither should the 
parents ever be allowed to expect that the teacher 
always will as a matter of duty come to their confes- 
sional. But it is believed if there could be a meeting 
of the parties as men, as gentlemen, as Christians, as 
coadjutors for the child's welfare, it would always be 
attended with good results. 

3. He should be willing to explain all his plans to the 
parents of his pupils. If they had implicit confidence 
in him, and would readily and fully give him every 
facility for carrying forward all his designs without 
explanation, then perhaps this direction might not be 
necessary. But as the world is he cannot expect spon- 
taneous confidence. They wish to know his designs, 
and it is best they should be informed of them by him- 
self. The best way for the teacher to interest them in 
the business of education will be freely to converse with 
them concerning the measures he intends to adopt. If 
his plans are judicious, he of course can show good 
reasons why they should be carried into effect; and 
parents are generally willing to listen to reason, espe- 
cially when it is directed to the benefit of their own chil- 
dren. Many a parent upon the first announcement of 
a measure in school, has stoutly opposed it, who upon 
a little explanatory conversation with the teacher, would 



28o THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

entertain a very different opinion, and ever after would 
be most ready to countenance and support it. 

It seems to me a teacher may safely encourage inquiry 
into all his movements in school. There is an old say- 
ing — in my opinion a mischievous one, — which enjoins 
it as a duty upon all, to "tell no tales out of school." I 
see no objection to the largest liberty in this matter. 
Why may not everything be told, if told correctly .'' 
Parents frequently entertain a suspicious spirit as to 
the movements of the teacher. Would not very much of 
this be done away with if it was understood there was no 
mystery about the school } The teacher who would thus 
invite inquiry would be very careful never to do anything 
which he would not be willing to have related to the 
parents, or even to be witnessed by them. I would 
have no objection, if it were possible, that walls of our 
schoolrooms, as you look inward, should be transparent, 
so that any individual unperceived might view with his 
own eyes the movements within. The consciousness of 
such an oversight would work a healthy influence upon 
those who have too long delighted in mystery. 

4. The teacher should encourage parents frequently to 
visit his school. There is almost everywhere too great 
backwardness on the part of parents to do this duty. 
The teacher should early invite them to come in. It is 
not enough that he do this in general terms. He may 
fix the time and arrange the party so that those who 
would assimilate should be brought together. It will 
frequently be wise to begin with the mothers, where 
visitation has been unusual. They will soon bring in 
the fathers. As often as they come they will be bene- 
fited. When such visits are made the teacher should 
not depart from his usual course of instruction on their 



TEACHER'S RELATION TO THE PARENTS 28 1 

account. Let all the recitations and explanations be 
attended to, all praises and reproofs, all rewards and 
punishments, be as faithfully and punctually dispensed 
as if no person were present. In other words, let the 
teacher faithfully exhibit the school just as it is, its 
lights and its shadows, so that they may see all its work- 
ings and understand all its trials as well as its encour- 
agements. 

Such visitations under such circumstances it is be- 
lieved would ever be highly beneficial. The teacher's 
difficulties and cares would be better understood and 
his efforts to be useful appreciated. The hindrances 
thus seen to impede his progress would be promptly 
removed, and the teacher would receive more cordial 
sympathy and support. 

But if the teacher makes such visits the occasion for 
putting a false appearance upon the school ; if he takes 
to himself unusual airs, such as make him ridiculous in 
the eyes of his pupils, and even in his own estimation ; 
if he attempts to bring before the visitors his best 
classes, and to impress them with his own skill by 
showing off his best scholars, they will, sooner or later, 
discover his hypocrisy, and very likely despise him for 
an attempt to deceive them. 

5. The teacJier sJioiild be frank in all his representa- 
tions to parents concerning their children. This is a 
point upon which many teachers most lamentably err. 
In this as in every other case, " honesty is the best 
policy." If an instructor informs a parent during the 
term that his son is making rapid progress, or as the 
phrase is — "doing very well," he excites in him high 
expectations ; and if at the end of the term it turns out 
otherwise, the parent with much justice may feel that 



282 THEORY AND PRACTICE OE TEACHING 

he has been injured, and may be expected to load him 
with censure instead of praise. Let a particular an- 
swer, and a tme one, always be given to the inquiry — 
'' How does my child get along ? " The parent has a 
right to know, and the teacher has no right to conceal 
the truth. Sometimes teachers, fearing the loss of a 
pupil, have used some indefinite expression, which, how- 
ever, the doting parent is usually ready to interpret 
to his child's advantage. But sooner or later the truth 
will appear ; and when the teacher is once convicted of 
any misrepresentation in this particular, there is rarely 
any forgiveness for him. For this reason and for his 
own love of truth, for his own reputation and for the 
child's welfare, he should keep nothing back. He 
should tell the whole story plainly and frankly, — and 
the parent, if he is a gentleman, will thank him for his 
faithfulness to him ; and if he has any sense of justice 
he will be ready to cooperate with him for his child's 
improvement. At any rate such a course will insure 
the reward of a good conscience. 

6. The teacher, as I have before urged, shonld have the 
habits and manners of a gentleman. He should strive 
also to acquire the ability to converse in an easy and 
agreeable way, so that his society shall never be irk- 
some. He in other words should be a man who does 
not require much entertaining. Modesty withal is a 
great virtue in the teacher ; especially in his intercourse 
with the people of his district. Teachers, from their 
almost constant intercourse with their pupils, are apt 
to think their own opinions infallible ; and they some- 
times commit the ridiculous error of treating others 
wiser than themselves as children in knowledge. This 
infirmity incident to the profession should be carefully 



TEACHER'S RELATION TO THE PARENTS 283 

avoided ; and while the teacher should ever endeavor to 
make his conversation instructive, he should assume no 
airs of superior learning or infallible authority. He 
should remember the truth in human nature, that men 
are best pleased to learn without being reminded that 
they are learners.^ 

7. He uiust sometimes stoop to conquer. I have 
known some teachers who have sneered at what they 
have termed the "outdoor work" here recommended. 
They have thrown themselves upon their dignity, and 
have declared that when they had done their duty 
within the schoolroom they had done all that could be 
■expected, and that parents were bound to cooperate with 
them and sustain them. But after all we must take the 
world as we find it ; and since parents do not always 
feel interested as they should, I hold it to be a part of 
the teacher's duty to excite their interest and to win 
them to his aid by all the proper means in his power. 
In doing this he will in the most effectual way secure 
the progress of his school, and at the same time advance 
his own personal improvement. 

TOPICAL OUTLINE 

I. The teacher shoidd car ef idly cultivate the social side of his 
nature. 

I. Why? [Render full reasons.] 
II . He shoidd seelz freque7it opportunities of social intercourse with 
the parents. 

I. How? 2. Why? 3. The effects of cringing? 
III. He should be willing to explain all his plans to the parents of 
his pupils. 

1. Forestall opposition. How? Why? 

2. Encourage inquiry. Why? 

1 " Men must be taught as though you taught them not, 
And things unknown proposed as things forgot." 



284 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

IV. He should encourage parents frequently to visit his school. 

1. How? Why? 

2. Why exhibit the school faithfully? 

3. Reasons why parents are commonly disinclined to 

visit the school. 
V. He should be frajik in all his representations to parents con- 
cerning their children. 
I. Why? How? 
VI . He should have all, the habits and manners of a gentle mail . 

I . Some valuable qualities ? 
VII. He must sometimes stoop to conquer. 

1. Meaning of the expression ? Illustrate. 

2. The motive justifying it? 

SUBJECTS FOR DISCUSSION OR ESSAYS 

1. "Merely a Teacher." 

2. How can parents be interested in the school? 



I 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE TEACHER'S CARE OF HIS HEALTH 

'' Get health ; for sickness is a cannibal which eats up all the 
youth and life it can lay hold of, and absorbs its own sons and 
daughters." — Emerson. 

No employment is more wearing to the constitution 
than the business of teaching. So many men falter 
in this employment from ill health, and so many are 
deterred from entering it, because they have witnessed 
the early decay and premature old age of those who 
have before pursued it ; so many are still engaged in it 
who almost literally " drag their slow length along," 
groaning under complicated forms of disease and loss 
of spirits, which they know not how to tolerate or cure, 
— that it has become a serious inquiry among the more 
intelligent of the profession, " Cannot something be 
known and practiced on this subject, which shall re- 
move the evils complained of ? " Is it absolutely neces- 
sary that teachers shall be dyspeptics and invalids ? 
Must devotion to a calling so useful, be attended with 
a penalty so dreadful ? 

A careful survey of the facts, by more than one phi- 
lanthropist, has led to the conclusion that the loss of 
health is not a necessary attendant upon the teacher of 
the young. It is believed, indeed, that the confinement 
from the air and sunlight and the engrossing nature of 
his pursuits have a strong tendency to bring on an irrita- 

285 



286 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

bility of the nervous system, a depression of spirits, and 
a prostration of the digestive functions ; but it is also 
believed that by following strictly and systematically 
the known laws of health, this tendency may be suc- 
cessfully resisted, and the teacher's life and usefulness 
very much prolonged. The importance of the subject 
and a desire to render this volume as useful as possible, 
have induced me to ask leave to transfer to its pages, 
with slight abbreviation, the very judicious and carefully 
written chapter on "Health — Exercise — Diet," con- 
tained in the " School and the Schoolmaster," from 
the gifted pen of George B. Emerson, Esq., of Bos- 
ton, — one of the most enlightened educators of the 
present age. 

HEALTH — EXERCISE — DIET 

" The teacher should have perfect health. It may 
seem almost superfluous to dwell here upon what is 
admitted to be so essential to all persons ; but it be- 
comes necessary from the fact that nearly all those who 
engage in teaching leave other and more active employ- 
ments to enter upon their new calling. By this change 
and by the substitution of a mere sedentary life within 
doors for a life of activity abroad, the whole habit of 
the body is changed, and the health will inevitably 
suffer unless precautions be taken which have never 
before been necessary. To all such persons — to all, 
especially, who are entering upon the work of teaching 
with a view of making it their occupation through life, 
a knowledge of the laws of health is of the utmost im- 
portance, and to such this chapter is addressed. I shall 
speak of these laws briefly under the heads of Exercise, 
Air, Sleep, Food, and Dress. 



TEACHER'S CARE OE HIS HEALTH 287 

"Exercise. — So intimate is the connection between 
the various parts of our compound nature that the 
faculties of the mind cannot be naturally, fully, and 
effectually exercised, without the health of the body. 
And the first law of health is that which imposes the 
necessity of exercise. 

"The teacher cannot be well without exercise and 
usually a great deal of it. No other pursuit requires 
so much, — no other is so exhausting to the nerves ; and 
exercise, air, cheerfulness, and sunshine, are necessary 
to keep them in health. Most other pursuits give 
exercise of body, sunshine, and air, in the very per- 
formance of the duties that belong to them. This 
shuts us up from all. 

" One of the best as one of the most natural modes 
of exercise is zvalkiiig. To give all the good effects of 
which it is susceptible, a walk must be taken either in 
pleasant company, or if alone, with pleasant thoughts ; 
or still better, with some agreeable end in view, such as 
gathering plants or minerals, or observing other natural 
objects. Many a broken constitution has been built up, 
and many a valuable life saved and prolonged by such 
a love of some branch of natural history as has led to 
snatch every opportunity for a walk with the interest 
of a delightful study, 

" ' Where living things, and things inanimate 

Do speak, at Heaven's command, to eye and ear.' 

The distinguished geologist of Massachusetts, President 
Hitchcock, was once when teacher of a school reduced 
to so low a state by disease of the nerves, which took 
the ugly shape of dyspepsia, that he seemed to be hurry- 
ing rapidly toward the grave. Fortunately he became 



288 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

interested in mineralogy, and this gave him a strong 
motive to spend all his leisure time in the open air and 
to take long circuits in every direction. He forgot that 
he was pursuing health, in the deeper interest of science ; 
and thus aided by some other changes in his habits, but 
not in his pursuits, he gradually recovered the perfect 
health which has enabled him to do so much for science 
and for the honor of his native state. 

'' Riding on horseback is one of the best modes of 
exercise possible for a sedentary person. It leads to 
an erect posture, throws open the chest, gives a fuller 
breathing, and exercises the muscles of the arms and 
upper part of the frame. * * * In weakness of the 
digestive organs its efficacy is remarkable. * * * 

'' A garden furnishes many excellent forms of exercise, 
and the numerous labors of a farm would give every 
variety if the teacher could be in a situation to avail 
himself of them. This is not often the case. When 
accessible, the rake, the pitchfork, moderately used, can- 
not be too highly recommended. A garden is within 
the reach of most teachers in the country. It has the 
advantage of supplying exercise suited to every degree 
of strength, and of being filled with objects gratifying 
to the eye and the taste. * * * The flower garden 
and shrubbery commend themselves to the female 
teacher. To derive every advantage from them she 
must be willing to follow the example often set by the 
ladies of England, and use the hoe, the rake, the prun- 
ing hook, and the grafting knife, with her own hands. 

''Rowing, when practicable, is a most healthful exer- 
cise. It gives play to every muscle and bone in the 
frame. * * * When the river is frozen skating may 
take the place of rowing ; and it is an excellent sub- 



TEACHER'S CARE OF HIS HEALTH 289 

stitute. * * * Driving a chaise or a sleigh is a 
healthful exercise, if sufficient precaution be used to 
guard against the current which is always felt as it is 
produced by the motion of the vehicle, even in still air. 

** Saiviiig and splitting wood form a valuable exer- 
cise, particularly important for those who have left an 
active life for the occupation of teaching. 

" Exercise should be taken in the early part of the 
day. Warren Colburn, the author of the Arithmetic, 
whose sagacity in common things was as remarkable 
as his genius for numbers, used to say that half an 
hour's walk before breakfast did him as much good as 
an hour's after. Be an early riser. The air of morn- 
ing is more bracing and invigorating ; the sights and 
sounds and odors of morning are more refreshing. 
A life's experience in teaching declares the morning 
best. . * * * 

" Exercise must always be taken, if possible, in the 
open air. Air is as essential as exercise, and often, in 
warm weather particularly, more so. They belong to- 
gether. The blood flows not as it should, it fails to 
give fresh life to the brain, if we breathe not fresh air 
enough. The spirits cannot enjoy the serene cheerful- 
ness which the teacher needs if he breathe not fresh 
air enough. The brain cannot perform its functions; 
thought cannot be quick, vigorous, and healthy, with- 
out ample supplies of air. Much of the right moral 
tone of habitual kindliness and thankful reverence de- 
pends on the air of heaven. 

''Exercise must be taken in the light; and if it may 
be, in the sunshine. Who has not felt the benignant 
influence of sunshine } The sun's light seems almost 
as essential to our well-being as his heat or the air we 

B.-r. THE. & PR. TEACHING — I9 



290 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

breathe. It has a great effect on the nerves. A dis- 
tinguished physician of great experience, Dr. J. C. 
Warren of Boston, tells me that he almost uniformly 
finds diseases that affect the nerves exasperated by the 
darkness of night, and mitigated by the coming on of 
day. All plants growing in the air lose their strength 
and color when excluded from light. So in a great 
degree does man. They lose their fine and delicate 
qualities and the preciousness of their juices. Man 
loses the glow of his spirits and the warmth and natural 
play of his finer feelings. * * * 

" Next to air and light, water is the most abundant 
element in nature. It can hardly be requisite to enjoin 
upon the teacher the freest use of it. The most scru- 
pulous cleanliness is necessary, not only on his own 
account, but that he may be able always to insist upon 
it, with authority, in his pupils. The healthy state of 
the nerves and of the functions of digestion depends 
in so great a degree on the cleanliness of the skin that 
its importance can hardly be overstated. * * * 

" Sleep. — No more fatal mistake in regard to his 
constitution can be made by a young person given to 
study than that of supposing that Nature can be 
cheated of the sleep necessary to restore its exhausted 
or strengthen its weakened powers. From six to eight 
hours of sleep are indispensable ; and with young per- 
sons, oftener eight, or more than six. It is essential to 
the health of the body, and still more to that of the 
mind. It acts directly on the nervous system ; and 
irritability, or what is called iiervotcsness, is the conse- 
quence of its loss. This, bad in any person, is worse 
in the teacher than in any one else. It is an unfailing 
source of unhappiness to himself and to all his school. 



TEACHER'S CARE OF HIS HEALTH 29 1 

He would be unwise to subject himself to the conse- 
quences of the loss of sleep ; he has no right to subject 
others. * * * 

" Diet. — To no person is an attention to diet more 
important than to the teacher. For his own guidance, 
and that he may be able to give proper instructions in 
regard to this subject to his pupils, the conclusions of 
experience, or what we may consider the laws of diet, 
should be familiar to him. Some of these are the fol- 
lowing : 

" I. Food should be simple ; not of too little nor too 
great variety. The structure of the teeth, resembling 
at once those of animals that naturally subsist on flesh, 
and of animals that take only vegetable food, and the 
character and length of the digestive organs, holding a 
medium between the average of these two classes, indi- 
cate that a variety of food, animal and vegetable, is 
natural to man, and in most cases probably necessary. 
The tendency in most parts of this country, from the 
great abundance of the necessaries of life, is to go to 
excess in the consumption of food, particularly of ani- 
mal food. The striking evils of this course have led 
many to the opposite extreme — to renounce meats en- 
tirely. Experience of the evils of this course also has 
in most places brought men back to the safe medium. 
No person needs to be more careful in regard to the 
quality and nature of his food than the teacher, as his 
exclusion from air for a great part of the day leaves 
him in an unfit condition to digest unwholesome food, 
while the constant use of his lungs renders his appetite 
unnaturally great or destroys it altogether. Animal 
food seems to be necessary, but not in great quantities ; 
not oftener, usually, than once a day. * * * In 



292 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

winter the food should be nourishing, and may be more 
abundant ; in summer, less nutritious, less of animal 
origin, and in more moderate quantity. 

" 2. Food should be taken at sufficiently distant in- 
tervals. * * * The operation of digestion is not 
completed ordinarily in less than four hours. Food 
should not be taken at shorter intervals than this, and 
intervals of five or six hours are better, as they leave 
the stomach some time to rest. 

'' 3. It should' be taken in moderate quantity. In 
the activity of common life excess is less to be dreaded 
than with the sedentary habits and wearying pursuits 
of the teacher. * * * The exhaustion of teaching 
is that of the nervous power, and would seem to call for 
hours of quiet and freedom from care, with cheerful 
conversation and the refreshment of air and gentle 
exercise. Probably all the kinds of food in general 
use are wholesome when partaken of moderately. 
Those who, from choice or compulsion, pass from an 
active to a sedentary life, should at the same time re- 
strict themselves to one half their accustomed quantity 
of food. 

"4. As a general rule fat should be avoided. * * 
None but a person who uses a great deal of most active 
exercise, or is much exposed to cold, can long bear its 
use with impunity. If taken, fat in a solid form is less 
injurious than liquid fat. 

"5. Fruit may be eaten with the recollection of the 
proverb of fruit-producing countries : ' It is gold in the 
morning, silver at noon, and lead at night.' Ripe fruit 
in its season is wholesome, and preferable for a person 
of sedentary habits to more nourishing and exciting 
food. But it should be a substitute for other food, not 



TEACHER'S CARE OF HIS HEALTH 293 

an addition. A bad practice, common in some places, 
of eating fruit, especially the indigestible dried fruits, 
raisins, and nuts, in the evening, should be avoided by 
the teacher. He must have quiet and uninterrupted 
sleep, and early hours, to be patient, gentle, and cheer- 
ful in school. 

" 6. The drink of a sedentary person should be chiefly 
water, and that in small quantities and only at meals. 
The intelligent Arab of the desert drinks not during 
the heat of the day. He sees that watering a plant in 
the sunshine makes it wither ; and he feels in himself 
an analogous effect from the use of water. There are 
few lessons in regard to diet so important to be incul- 
cated as this : ' Drink not between meals.' 

'* 7. The last rule to be observed is that no unneces- 
sary exertion of mind or body should be used immedi- 
ately after a meal. If a walk must be taken it should 
rather be a leisurely stroll than a hurried walk. 

''Dress. — The teacher should be no sloven. He 
should dress well, not over nicely, not extravagantly ; 
neatly, for neatness he must teach by example as well 
as by precept; and warmly, for so many hours of the 
day shut in a warm room will make him unusually sen- 
sitive to cold. The golden rule of health should never 
be forgotten : ' Keep the head cool, the feet warm, and 
the body free.' The dress of the feet is particularly 
important. Coldness or dampness of the feet causes 
headache, weakness and inflammation of the eyes, 
coughs, consumption, and sometimes fever. A head- 
ache is often cured by sitting with the feet long near a 
fire. Keeping the feet warm and dry alleviates the 
common affections of the eyes, repels a coming fever, 
prevents or quiets coughs, and serves as one of the 



294 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

surest safeguards against consumption. Many of our 
most sensible physicians trace the prevalence of con- 
sumption in northern states not to our climate but to 
the almost universal custom of wearing insufficient 
clothing, especially on the feet. 

"There is another subject intimately connected with 
health, which has been alluded to, but which ought, 
from its' importance, to receive more than a passing 
remark. It is cJieeifulness. This should be one of the 
ends and measures of health. It ought to be considered 
the natural condition of a healthy mind ; he who is not 
cheerful is not in health. If he has not some manifest 
moral cause of melancholy, there must be something 
wrong in the body or in the action of the powers of 
the mind. 

"A common cause of low spirits in a teacher is 
anxiety in regard to the welldoing of his pupils. This 
he must feel ; but he must endeavor, as far as possible, 
to banish it from his hours of relaxation. He must 
leave it behind him when he turns from the school- 
house door. To prevent its haunting him he must seek 
pleasant society. He must forget it among the endear- 
ments of home, the cheerful faces and kind voices of 
friends. This is the best of all resources, and happy 
is the man who has a pleasant home, in the bosom of 
which he may rest from labor and from care. If he 
be among strangers he must endeavor to find or make 
friends to supply the place of home. He must seek 
the company of the parents and friends of his pupils, 
not only that he may not be oppressed by the loneli- 
ness of his situation, but that he may better understand 
the character of his pupils and the influences to which 
they are subjected. The exercise of the social affec- 



TEACHER'S CARE OF HIS HEALTH 295 

tions is essential to the healthy condition of a well- 
constituted mind. Often he will find good friends and 
pleasant companions among his pupils. Difference of 
years disappears before kindliness of feeling, and sym- 
pathy may exist between those most remote in age and 
pursuit and cultivation. 



" A delightful but somewhat dangerous recreation is 
offered by music ; delightful, as always soothing to the 
wearied mind ; but dangerous, because liable to take to 
itself too much time. It would be desirable if every 
instructor could himself sing or play. If he cannot, 
let him listen to songs or cheerful music from voice 
or instrument, or to the notes of birds. 

" '• I'm sick of noise and care, and now mine ear 
Longs for some air of peace.' " 



To the foregoing excellent remarks I could scarcely 
wish to add anything, save to call attention to that 
pernicious habit among both clergymen and teachers 
of dressing the neck too warmly whenever they go into 
the open air. There seems to have obtained an im- 
pression that those who have occasion to speak often 
should be particularly careful to guard their throats 
from the cold. Hence many are seen in a winter's day 
with a collar of fur, or a woolen ** comforter," or at 
least a silk handkerchief of extraordinary dimensions 
around their necks, and often extending above their 
mouths and nostrils. If they have occasion to step out 
but for a moment, they are still subject to the slavery 
of putting on this unnatural incumbrance. 



296 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

Now I believe that this extra covering for the neck, 
instead of preventing disease of the throat and lungs, 
is one of the most fruitful sources of such disease. 
These parts being thus thickly covered during exercise 
become very warm, and an excessive local perspiration 
is excited ; and the dampness of the throat is much in- 
creased if the covering extends above the mouth and 
nose, thu-s precluding the escape of the exhalations from 
the lungs. When, therefore, this covering is removed, 
even within doors, a very rapid evaporation takes place, 
and a severe cold is the consequence. In this way a 
cold is renewed every day, and hoarseness of the throat 
and irritation of the lungs are the necessary result. 
Very soon the clergyman or teacher breaks down with 
the bronchitis, or the "lung complaint," and is obliged 
for a season at least to suspend his labors. This diffi- 
culty is very much enhanced if the ordinary neck dress 
is a stiff stock, which, standing off from the neck, allows 
the ingress of the cold air as soon as the outer covering 
is removed. 

Having suffered myself very severely from this cause, 
and having seen hundreds of cases in others, I was de- 
sirous to bear the testimony of my experience against 
the practice, — and to suggest to all who have occasion 
to speak long and often that the simplest covering for 
the neck is the best. A very light cravat is all that is 
necessary. If the ordinary cravat be too thick and too 
warm, as the large-sized white cravats so fashionable 
with the clergy usually are, during the exercise of 
speaking an unnatural flow of blood to the parts will 
be induced, which, after the exercise ceases, will be fol- 
lowed by debility and prostration. A cold is then very 
readily taken, and disease follows. I am confident from 



TEACHER'S CARE OF HIS HEALTH 29/ 

my own experience and immediate observation, that this 
unnatural szvaddling of the neck is one of the most 
fruitful causes of disease of the lungs and throat that 
can be mentioned. 

TOPICAL OUTLINE 

I. Teaching endangers the Health. 

1. How? 

2. The effects of ill health upon a teacher's usefulness? 
II. Exercise. 

I A condition of health for body and mind. 

2. When and how? 

3. Forms of exercise. 

a. Walking. 

Field Studies. 

b. Riding horseback. 

c. Gardening. 

d. Boating, skating, driving. 

e. Sawing, chopping, splitting wood. 

4. Bathing. 

III. Sleep. 

IV. Diet. 

1 . The importance. 

2. Rules of diet. 
V. Dress. 

VI. Cheerfulness. 

1. Its relation to health and usefulness. 

2. How promoted. 
VII. Ahtsic. 

VIII. Dressing the Neck properly. 



SUBJECTS FOR DISCUSSION OR ESSAYS 

1. Exercise, a Law of All Health. 

2. Education at the Expense of Health. 

3. Mental Effects of 111 Health. 

4. Conditions of Health. 



298 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

READINGS 

Spencer's Education, Chap. IV. 
Compayre's Lectures on Pedagogy, pp. 28-51. 
Morgan's Manual of Pedagogy, pp. 291-292. 
White's School Management, pp. 25, 26, 58-78, 83. 
Swett's Methods of Teaching, pp. 34-38. 
Todd's Student's Manual, Chap. VIII. 
Hamerton's Intellectual Life, Part X. 
Bacon's Essays. " Of Regimen of Health." 
Blaikie's How to get Strong. 
Morgan's Educational Mosaics, p. 165. 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE TEACHER'S RELATION TO HIS PROFESSION 

" Every man owes a debt to his profession." — Bacon. 
" There are heroes and martyrs, prophets and apostles of learn- 
ing, as there are of religion." — Gilman. 

SECTION I. STATE OF THE PROFESSION 

It has long been the opinion of the best minds in 
our country as well as in the most enlightened coun- 
tries of Europe that teaching should be a profession. 
It has been alleged, and with much justice, that this 
calling, which demands for its successful exercise the 
best of talents, the most persevering energy, and the 
largest share of self-denial, has never attained an ap- 
preciation in the public mind at all commensurate with 
its importance. It has by no means received the emol- 
ument, either of money or honor, which strict justice 
would award in any other department to the talents 
and exertions required for this. This having been so 
long the condition of things, much of the best talent 
has been attracted at once to the other professions; 
or if exercised awhile in this, the temptation of more 
lucrative reward, or of more speedy, if not more last- 
ing honor, has soon diverted it from teaching, where 
so little of either can be realized, to engage in some 
other department of higher promise. So true is this, 
that scarcely a man can be found, having attained to 

299 



300 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

any considerable eminence as a teacher, who has not 
been several times solicited — and perhaps strongly 
tempted — to engage in some more lucrative employ- 
ment ; and while there have always been some strong 
men who have preferred teaching to any other calling, 

— men who would do honor to any profession, and 
who, while exercising this, have found that highest of 
all rewards, the consciousness of being useful to others, 

— still it must be confessed that teachers have too often 
been of just that class which a knowledge of the cir- 
cumstances might lead us to predict would engage in 
teaching ; men of capacity too limited for the other pro- 
fessions, of a temperament too sluggish to engage in 
the labors of active employment, of manners too rude 
to be tolerated except in the society of children (!), and 
sometimes of a morality so pernicious as to make them 
the unfailing contaminators of the young whenever 
permitted — not to teach — but to "keep school." 
Thus two great evils have been mutually strength- 
ening each other. The indifference of the employers 
to the importance of good teachers, and their parsi- 
mony in meting out the rewards of teaching, have 
called into the field large numbers, in the strictest 
sense, unworthy of all reward; while this very un- 
v/orthiness of the teachers has been made the excuse 
for further indifference, and if possible for greater 
meanness on the part of employers. Such has been 
the state of the case for many years past, and such is 
to a great extent the fact at present. 

It has been the ardent wish of many philanthropists 
that this deplorable state of affairs should be exchanged 
for a better. Hence they have urged that teaching- 
should be constituted a profession ; that none should 



TEACHER'S RELATION TO HIS PROFESSION 30I 

enter this profession but those who are thoroughly 
qualified to discharge the high trust ; and, as a conse- 
quence, that the people should more liberally reward 
and honor those who are thus quaHfied and employed. 
This would indeed be a very desirable change ; it would 
be the educational millennium of the world. For such 
a period we all may well devoutly pray. 

But how shall this glorious age — not yet arrived — 
be ushered in } By whose agency, and by what happy 
instrumentality must its approach be hastened.-^ Here, 
as in all great enterprises, there is some difference of 
opinion. Some have urged that the establishment of 
normal schools and other seminaries for the better 
education of teachers, and the institution of a more 
vigilant system of supervision, by which our schools 
should be effectually guarded against the intrusion of 
the ignorant and inefificient teacher, are all that is 
necessary to bring in this brighter day. Others have 
zealously urged that such preparation and such super- 
vision are entirely superfluous and premature in the 
present state of the public mind. TJiey say that the 
public must first become more liberal in its appropria- 
tions for schools ; it must at once double the amount 
it has been accustomed to pay to teachers, and thus 
secure without further trouble the best talent to this 
vocation. To this the former class reply that the pub- 
lic has seldom been known to raise its price so long 
as its wants could be supplied at the present rates. 
They say that the last century has afforded ample 
opportunity for the exhibition of this voluntary gener- 
osity of the public, and yet we still wait to see this 
anomaly in human prudence, of offering in advance 
to pay double the price for the same thing ; for until 



302 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

better teachers are raised up, it must be an advance 
upon the present stock. So there is a division among 
them, ** for some cry one thing and some another." 

Now I believe in this case, as in most others, the truth 
lies between the extremes. As the evil complained of 
is a mutual one, as has already been shown, — that is, 
an illiberal public has tolerated incompetent teachers, 
and the incompetence of teachers has enhanced in turn 
the parsimony of the public, — so the remedy must be 
a mutual one ; the public must be enlightened and 
teachers must be improved ; the pay of teachers must 
be raised, but there must be also something to warrant 
the higher rate. Nor is it easy to determine which 
shall begin first. We can hardly expect the people to 
pay more till they find an article worth more ; nor, on 
the other hand, can we expect the teachers to incur any 
considerable outlay to improve themselves until better 
encouragement shall be held out to them by their em- 
ployers. The two must generally proceed together. 
Just as in the descending scale there was a mutual 
downward tendency, so here, better service will demand 
better pay, and in turn the liberality of employers will 
stimulate the employed to still higher attainments in 
knowledge and greater exertions in their labors. 

In this condition of things the question recurs, What 
is the duty of teachers in relation to their calling } I 
answer, they are bound to do what they can to elevate 
it. Lord Bacon said, " Every man owes a debt to his 
profession." Teachers being supposed to be more in- 
telligent than the mass of the community may justly 
take the lead in the work of progress. They should as 
a matter of dtcty take hold of this work, — a work of 
sacrifice and self-denial as it will be at least for some 



I 



TEACHER'S RELATION TO II IS PROFESSION 303 

time, — and heartily do what they can to magnify their 
office and make it honorable. In the meantime they 
may do what they can to arouse the people to a sense 
of their duty. The more enlightened are to some ex- 
tent with them already. The press, the pulpit, the legis- 
lative assemblies, all proclaim that something must be 
done. All admit the faithful teacher has not been duly 
rewarded, and sovie are found who are willing to do 
something for the improvement both of the mind and 
condition of the teacher. This is encouraging ; and 
while we rejoice at the few gleams of light that betoken 
our dawning, let us inquire for a little space how we 
can hasten the ''coming in of the perfect day." 

SECTION II. SELF-CULTURE 

The teacher should labor diligently to improve himself. 
This is a duty incumbent on all persons, but particu- 
larly upon the teacher. The very nature of his em- 
ployment demands that his mind should be frequently 
replenished from the storehouses of knowledge. To 
interest children in their studies, how necessary is it 
that the teacher's mind should be thoroughly furnished 
with the richest thoughts of the wise ; to inspire them 
with a desire to learn, how important that he should be 
a living example of the advantage and enjoyment which 
learning alone can bestow ; to strew the path of knowl- 
edge with flowers, and thus make it the path of pleas- 
antness, how desirable that he should abound with the 
aptest illustrations drawn from all that is wonderful and 
curious in nature and art ; to awaken the young mind 
to a consciousness of its capacities, its wants, its respour 
sibilities, how thoroughly should he know all the work- 
ings of the human soul, — how wisely and carefully 



304 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

should he touch the springs of action, — how judi- 
ciously should he call to his aid the conscience and the 
religious feelings ! 

Besides, let it be remembered that in this as in other 
things the teacher's example is of great importance. 
The young will be very likely to judge of the impor- 
tance of their own improvement by the estimate the 
teacher practically places upon his ; nor can he with 
any good grace press his pupils to exertion while they 
see that he makes none whatever himself. 

There is great danger in the midst of the confine- 
ment and fatigue of the schoolroom, and the pressure 
of anxiety and care out of school, that the teacher will 
yield to the temptations of his position and fall into 
habits of indolence as to his own improvement. Com- 
pelled, as he often is, to labor at great disadvantage, 
by reason of a small and poorly furnished schoolroom ; 
confined through the day from the sunshine and the 
fresh breeze ; subjected to a constant pressure of duty 
amid untold trials of his patience, arising from the law 
that impels children to be active as well as inconsider- 
ate ; required to concentrate his powers upon the double 
duty of governing and teaching at the same instant, and 
all through the session, — it is not strange when the 
hour of release comes that he should seek rest or recrea- 
tion at the nearest point, even to the neglect of his own 
mental or moral culture. I am of the opinion that this 
accounts for the fact that so many persons enter the 
work of instruction, and continue in it for a longer or 
shorter period without making the slightest progress 
either in the art of teaching or in their own intellectual 
growth. Their first school indeed is often their best. 
This tendency or temptation incident to the calling it 



TEACHER'S RELATION TO HIS PROFESSION 305 

is the teacher's duty constantly and manfully to resist. 
He can do it. 

I. He has the time to do it. He is usually required 
to spend but six hours in the day in the schoolroom. 
Suppose he add two hours more for the purpose of 
looking over his lessons and devising plans for improv- 
ing his school, — he will still have sixteen hours for 
sleep, exercise, recreation, and improvement. Eight 
hours are sufficient for sleep, especially for a sedentary 
man (some say less), and four will provide for meals, 
exercise, and recreation. Foitr still remain for improve- 
viciit. Any teacher who is systematic and economical 
in the use of his time can reserve for the purpose of 
his own improvement four hours in every tiventyfour, 
and this without the slightest detriment to his school 
duties or to his health. To be sure, he must lead a 
regular life. He must have a plan and systematically 
follow it. He must be pnnctnal at his school, at his 
meals, at his exercise or recreation, at his hour of 
retiring and rising, and at his studies. Nor should 
he ordinarily devote more time than I have mentioned 
directly to his school. He should labor with his whole 
soul while he does work, and he will the more heartily 
do this if he has had time to think of something else 
during the season of respite from labor. It is a great 
mistake that teachers make when they think they shall 
be more successful by devoting all their thoughts to 
their schools. Very soon the school comes to occupy 
their sleeping as well as waking hours, and troublesome 
dreams disturb the repose of night. Siich men must 
soon IV ear out. 

But according to the laws of our nature, by a change 

B.-P. THE. & PR. TEACHING — 20 



306 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

of occupation, the jaded faculties find rest. By taking 
up some new subject of inquiry the intellect is relieved 
from the sense of fatigue which before oppressed it, 
the thoughts play freely again, the animation returns, 
the eye kindles, and tJie mind expands. 

2. SiLch labo7' Jinds immediate reward. The con- 
sciousn^ss of grozvth is no small thing toward encour- 
aging the teacher. He feels that he is no longer 
violating his nature by allowing himself to stagnate. 
Then he will find every day that he can apply the 
newly acquired truth to the illustration of some princi- 
ple he is attempting to teach. He has encouraging and 
immediate proof that he is a better teacher, and that 
he has made himself so by timely exertion. He is thus 
again stimulated to rise above those temptations before 
described, — this immediate availability of his acquire- 
ments being vouchsafed to the teacher, as it is not to 
most men, in order to prompt him to stem the current 
which resists his progress. 

And now, if I have shown that a teacher is bound to 
improve himself, both from a regard to his own well- 
being, and the influence of his example upon others, — 
and if I have also shown that he can improve himself, 
I may be indulged in making a few suggestions as to 
the manner of his doing it. 

I. He should have a course of professio7ial reading. 
It will do much for his improvement to read the works 
of those who have written on the subject of education 
and the art of teaching. If possible he should collect 
and possess a small educational library. It will be of 
great service to him to be able to read more than once 
such suggestions as are abundantly contained in the 
''Teacher's Manual," by Palmer; the "School and 



TEACHER'S RELATION TO HIS PROFESSION 307 

Schoolmaster," by Potter and Emerson; the "Teacher," 
by Abbott; the "Teacher Taught," by Davis; "Lec- 
tures on School Keeping," by Hall; "The Common 
School Journal," "Secretary's Reports," and "Lec- 
tures," by Horace Mann; the "Connecticut Common 
School Journal," and " Journal of the Rhode Island 
Institute," by H. Barnard ; the " District School Jour- 
nal," of New York, by Francis Dwight and others ; the 
" Lectures of the American Institute of Instruction ; " 
the "Schoolmaster's Friend," by T. Dwight; the "Dis- 
trict School," by J. Orville Taylor; the "Teacher's 
Advocate," by Cooper ; the writings, if they can be ob- 
tained, of Wyse, of Cousin, of Lalor, of Lord Brougham 
on Education, together with such other works as are 
known to contain sound and practical views. It is 
not to be expected that every teacher will possess all 
these, or that he will read them all in a single term. 
But it is well to hold converse with other minds, and to 
have it in our power to review their best thoughts when- 
ever our own need refreshing. I have given a some- 
what extended list of books because the inquiry is now 
so often made by teachers as to what they shall read. 

2. By pursuing systematically a course of general study. 
Many teachers who have a desire to improve themselves 
still fritter away their time upon little miscellaneous 
matters, without making real progress. It is well in 
this to have a plan. Let some one study, — it may be 
geology, or astronomy, or chemistry, or botany, or the 
pure mathematics, — let some one study receive con- 
stant attention till no mean attainments have been made 
in it. By taking one thing at a time and dihgently pur- 
suing it, at the end of a term the teacher feels that he 
has something to show for his labor, — and he is by the 



308 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

advance already made prepared to take the next and 
more difficult step. In a course of years, while a neigh- 
bor who began teaching at the same time has been stag- 
nating or even retrograding for the want of a plan and 
a purpose, a diligent man, by system and perseverance, 
may make himself at least equal to many who have 
enjoyed better advantages in early life, and at the same 
time have the superadded enjoyment of feeling that he 
has been his own teacher. 

3. Keep a journal or cofnmonplace book. The habit 
of composing daily is very valuable to the teacher. 
In this book he may record whatever plans he has 
devised, with their results in practice. He may enter 
remarkable cases of discipline, — in short, anything 
which in the course of his practice he finds inter- 
esting. Those valuable suggestions which he receives 
from others, or hints that he may derive from books, 
may be epitomized here, and thus be treasured up 
for future reference. Sometimes one's best thoughts 
fade from his own mind and he has no power to 
recall them. Such a book would preserve them, and 
would moreover show the character of one's thoughts at 
any particular period, and \\vq progress of thought, from 
one period to another, better than any other means.^ 

To these means of self-culture I would add the prac- 
tice of carefully reading and writing on chosen subjects 
more fully described in the chapter on Habits of the 
Teacher. 

By all these means and such others as may come 
within his reach, if a teacher succeeds in his attempts 
at progress, he does untcJi for his profession. The very 

1 For further remarks on the commonplace book, see Chap. VII. p. 143, 
note. 



TEACHER'S RELATION TO HIS PROFESSION 309 

fact that he has given practical demonstration that a 
man may teach and still improve; that the temptations 
of his profession may be resisted and overcome ; that 
the life of the pedagogue which has required him to 
keep the company of small minds and to be occupied 
with minute objects, has never prevented his holding 
communion with the greatest men our earth has known, 
nor circumscribed in the least the sphere of his grasp- 
ing research, — I say the very fact that he has thus 
shown what a man may do under such circumstances, 
may do much to encourage others to hke effort. 

But there are other and direct duties which he owes 
to his profession, which I proceed to consider under 
the head of 

SECTION III. — MUTUAL AID 

Every teacher should be willing to impart as well as 
to receive good. No one, whatever may be his per- 
sonal exertions, can monopolize all the wisdom of the 
world. The French have a proverb that '' Everybody 
is wiser than anybody." Acting on this principle the 
teacher should be willing to bring his attainments into 
the common stock, and to diffuse around him as far as 
he is able the light he possesses. I have no language 
with which to express my abhorrence of that selfish- 
ness which prompts a man, after attaining to some 
eminence as a teacher by the free use of all the means 
within his reach, self-complacently to stand aloof from 
his fellow-teachers, as if he would say : " Brethren, 
help yourselves — I have no need of you, and you have 
no claim upon me. I have toiled hard for my emi- 
nence, and the secret is with me. I will enjoy it alone. 
When you have toiled as long, you may be as wise. 



310 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHINC 

Brethren, help yourselves." Such a spirit would per- 
haps be tolerated by the world in an avaricious man 
who had labored to treasure up the shining dust of earth. 
But no man may innocently monopolize knowledge. 
The light of the sun is shed in golden refulgence upon 
every man, and no one if he would may separate a 
portion for his own exclusive use by closing his shut- 
ters about him, — for that moment his light becomes 
darkness. It is thus with the light of knowledge. 
Like the air we breathe, or like the rain from heaven, 
it should be free to all. The man who would lock up 
the treasures of learning from the gaze of the whole 
world, whether in the tomes of some dusty library, 
as of old it was done, or in the recesses of his narrower 
soul, is unworthy of the name of man ; he certainly has 
not the spirit of the teacher. 

An exclusive spirit may be borne where meaner 
things, as houses, and lands, and gold, are at stake : 
but in education and religion — light and love, — where 
giving doth not impoverish nor withholding make rich, 
there is not even the shadow of an excuse for it. The 
man who is exclusive in these things, would be so, I 
fear, in heaven. 

How can teachers encottrage each other? 

I. By mutual visitation. Very much may be done by 
social intercourse. Two teachers can scarcely converse 
together an hour without benefiting each other. The 
advantages of intercourse with friends, as delineated 
by Dr. Young, may not be denied to teachers : 

" Hast thou no friend to set thy mmd abroach.? 
Good sense will stagnate. Thoughts shut up want air, 
And spoil like bales unopened to the sun. 
Had thought been all, sweet speech had been denied. 



TEACHER'S RELATION TO HIS PROEESSION 311 



Thought, too, delivered, is the more possessed ; 
Teaching, we learn ; and giving, we retain 
The births of intellect, when dumb, forgot. 
Speech ventilates our intellectual fire ; 
Speech burnishes our mental magazine, 
Brightens for ornament, and whets for use." 

But not only should teachers visit one another, — it is 
profitable also for them to visit each other's schools. I 
have never spent an hour in the school of another with- 
out gaining some instruction. Sometimes a new way 
of illustrating a difficult point, sometimes an exhibition 
of tact in managing a difficult case in discipline, some- 
times an improved method of keeping up the interest 
in a class, would suggest the means of making- my own 
labors the more successful. And even should one's 
neighbor be a bad teacher, one may sometimes learn as 
much from witnessing glaring defects as great excel- 
lencies. Some of the most profitable lessons I have 
ever received have been drawn from the deficiencies of 
a fellow-teacher.. We seldom " see ourselves as others 
see us " ; and we are often insensible of our own faults 
till we have seen them strikingly exhibited by another ; 
and then by a comparison we correct our own. 

Besides, by a visitation of a friend's school we may 
not only receive good, but we may impart it. If there 
is mutual confidence, a few words may aid him to cor- 
rect his faults, if he has any, — faults which but for 
such suggestion might grow into confirmed habits to 
his permanent injury. 

So important is this mutual visitation among teachers 
as a means of improvement, that I doubt not employers 
would find it for their interest to encourage it by allow- 



312 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

ing the teachers to set apart an occasional half day for 
this purpose. 

It would, moreover, be very useful for the teachers 
of a town to hold stated meetings as often as once a 
month for the purpose of mutual improvement. It 
would cultivate a fellow-feeling among them, and it 
would afford them an opportunity to exchange thoughts 
on most " of the difficulties which they meet in their 
schools, and the best methods of surmounting them. 
At these meetings a mutual exchange of books on the 
subject of teaching would extend the facilities of each 
for improving his own mind and his methods of instruc- 
tion and government. 

2. By the use of the pe7i. Every teacher should be 
a ready writer. Nearly every teacher could gain access 
to the columns of some paper, through which he could 
impart the results of his experience or of his reflection. 
Such a course would benefit him specially, and at the 
same time it would awaken other minds to thought and 
action. In this way the attention, not only of teachers 
but of parents, would be called to the great work of 
education. One mind in this way might move a thou- 
sand. If a teacher does not feel qualified to instinct, 
let him inqidre, and thus call out the wisdom of others. 
This could be done in nearly every village. The press 
is almost always ready to promote the cause of educa- 
tion. By the use of it teachers may profitably discuss 
all the great questions pertaining to their duty, and at 
the same time enlighten the community in which they 
live. This is an instrumentality as yet too little em- 
ployed. 

3. By Teachers' Associations or Institutes. These are 
peculiarly adapted to the diffusion of the best plans of 



TEACHER'S RELATION TO HIS PROFESSION 313 

instruction. Rightly conducted they can never fail of 
being useful. Every man who lectures or teaches is 
profited by the preparation. If he is a man of wisdom 
and experience, he will benefit his hearers. If other- 
wise, the discussion which should ever follow a lecture 
will expose its fallacies. It has often happened in such 
associations, that an honest and experienced man has 
in a half hour given to the younger portion of the 
members lessons of wisdom which it would take them 
years to learn by their own observation. Errors in 
principle and practice have been exposed into which 
many a young teacher was unconsciously falling, and 
hints have been given to the quicker minds by which 
their own modes of teaching and governing have been 
speedily improved. 

As far as possible such meetings should be made 
strictly practical. Older teachers, who usually have 
the most to do with the management of them, should 
bear in mind that they are mainly designed to diffuse 
practical ideas of teaching, particularly among the 
younger members. Too often these meetings are made 
the arena of debate upon questions of very little prac- 
tical importance to the teacher. I have seen a body of 
men spend an entire session of a half day in discussing 
a series of overwrought resolutions upon some topic 
scarcely at all connected with any duty of the teacher, 
frequently leaving the main question to wrangle about 
some point of order, or of ''parliamentary usage"; 
and after the resolutions were passed or rejected, as the 
case might be — (and it was of very little consequence 
whether *' carried " or " lost "), — the ladies and younger 
teachers who had borne no part in the talk, would find 
it difficult to tell " wherefore they had come together." 



314 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

Nothing had been said or done by which they could be 
aided in their schools. Lectitrers, too, have frequently 
mistaken their aim. Ambitious to shine out as liter- 
ary men, they have given orations instead of practical 
lessons. In these meetings, it seems to me nothing 
ostentatious, nothing far-fetched is what we need; but 
rather the modes and experience of practical men. We 
need to come down to the schoolroom, to the everyday 
business of the teacher, and thus prepare him to do his 
work more successfully on his return to his duties. 

Another and no inconsiderable advantage of such 
associations is that the teacher gains encouragement 
and strength by being thus brought in contact with 
others engaged in the same pursuit. Toiling on alone, 
in his isolated district, surrounded by obstacles and dis- 
couragements, weighed down by care and finding none 
to sympathize with him, he is almost ready to faint in 
his course and perhaps to abandon his calling. At 
this crisis he reads the notice for the teachers' meeting 
and he resolves to go up once more to the gathering of 
his friends. From the various parts of the county, 
from the populous and crowded city, and from the by- 
ways of the country towns, a goodly number collect 
together and greet each other. Smile answers to smile, 
the blood courses more freely through the veins, the 
spirits, long depressed perhaps, partake of the general 
glow, and each feels that Jie is not toiling alone. He 
feels that a noble brotherhood of kindred spirits are 
laboring in the same field, under trials and discourage- 
ments similar to those which have oppressed him. He 
derives new strength from the sympathy of friends. 

A pi'ofessional feeling is engendered which will ac- 
company him to his schoolroom ; and when he goes 



TEACHER'S RELATION TO HIS PROFESSION 315 

home it is with renewed vigor and fresh aspirings to be 
a better man and a better teacher. He labors with 
more confidence in himself ; and, enlightened by what 
he has seen and heard, he is far more successful than 
before. His pupils, too, respond to the new hfe they 
see enkindHng in him, and go to their work more cheer- 
fully. One difficulty after another vanishes, and he 
begins to think teaching, after all, is not the worst em- 
ployment in the world, but that it has some flowers as 
well as thorns ; and he concludes to remain in the pro- 
fession. This has been the history of at least one man. 
Long may many others have occasion to exercise grati- 
tude like his for the enjoyment of similar privileges.^ 



I ought not to leave this subject without a word or 
two of caution : 

I. Be Jionest. In all your intercourse with your 
fellow-teachers, be careful to use the words of *' truth 
and soberness." In stating your experience never allow 
your fancy to embellish your facts. Of this there is 
great danger. The young are sometimes tempted to tell 
a good story ; but a deviation from the truth — always 
perilous and always wrong — may be peculiarly disas- 

^The Essex County Teachers' Association, in Massachusetts, was 
first organized in 1829, and for seventeen years its meetings, of two days 
each, have been held semiannually, and usually very fully attended. This 
association has wrought an untold amount of usefulness by its improvement 
and encouragement of the teachers of that county, — and at this time it 
continues to diffuse its wonted blessings. A more intelligent and devoted 
body of teachers cannot be found in the United States than those who now 
compose that association. Long may it continue to irradiate its glorious 
light ; and long may its devoted members enjoy the well-merited confi- 
dence of the community in which they labor. 



3l6 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

trous here. Experience overstated may egregiously 
mislead the unwary inquirer after truth. Never over- 
color the picture ; it is better to err on the other side. 

So, likewise, in exhibiting your school to fellow- 
teachers, be strictly Jionest. They come to learn from 
your everyday practice, and not from a counterfeit ; 
and whenever you dress your school in a showy garb 
to win the applause of a fellow-teacher you do him a 
great injustice. You may not please your friend so 
much by your ordinary mode as by something assumed 
for the occasion ; but you may profit him far more ; 
and in the end you lose nothing by pursuing the line 
of duty. 

I well remember that a somewhat distinguished 
teacher once visited my own school, who on going 
away expressed himself somewhat disappointed because 
he did not see anything " extraordinary,'' as he said, in 
my mode of procedure. The truth was, nothing extraor- 
di7tary was attempted. He saw what I wished to show 
him, an ordinary day's work ; for I had before that 
time imbibed the opinion that a man's reputation will 
be more firmly established by sustaining every day a 
fair mediocrity, than it ever can be by an attempt to 
outdo himself on a few special occasions. As the value 
of biographical writing is often very much diminished 
because the writer has endeavored to paint his character 
too perfect to be hninan, — so these visitations will lose 
their utility, whenever, by substituting hollow preten- 
sion for sober reality, the teacher endeavors to exhibit 
such a school as he does not daily keep. 

2. Avoid servile imitation of aiiy model. It is often 
remarked that every man's plan is the best for him ; 
and that many besides David can never fight in Saul's 



TEACHER'S RELATION TO HIS PROFESSION 317 

armor. This is generally true. All experience then 
should be considered in connection with the circum- 
stances under which it was tried, never forgetting the 
character and genius of the person who relates it. What 
might succeed in his hand may fail in yours ; particu- 
larly as you will lack the interest of an original inventor. 

The true secret lies in listening to the views of all, 
and then in making a judicious combination to meet 
your own character and your own circumstances. It is 
often better to adjust and adapt the plan of another, 
than to adopt it. 

Servile imitation precludes thought in the teacher 
and reduces him to a mere machine. The most suc- 
cessful teachers I have ever known were those who 
would listen attentively to the plans and experience of 
others, and then strike out a course for themselves, 
attempting that, and that only, which they were confi- 
dent they could successfully execute. 

3. Avoid undue self-suffLciency. Men usually cease 
to learn when they tJiink they are wise enough. The 
teacher is in danger of falling into this error. Moving 
for the most part among children, where his decisions 
are seldom questioned, he is very apt to attach undue 
importance to his own opinions. Such a man meets 
his fellows with much self-complacency, and is but 
poorly prepared to be profited by the views of others. 
But the teacher should never cease to be teachable. 
There are very few men too old or too wise to learn 
something; and they are the wisest, if not the oldest, 
who are willing to welcome a real improvement, even 
though it should come from comparative ''babes and 
sucklings," out of whose mouths God has sometimes per- 
fected praise. 



3l8 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

TOPICAL QUIZ 

I. State of the Profession. 

1. Account for the fact that the teaching profession is held 

in such slight esteem by the general public. 

2. Account for the fact that so little of the best talent remains 

in the profession of teaching. 

3. Account for the existence of so many incompetent and 

unworthy teachers. 

4. How can the indifference and parsimony of the public be 

remedied? 

5. State the ways in which the teacher can magnify his 

office in public esteem. 
II. Self -culture. 

6. Why should the teacher labor diligently to improve himself? 

7. What obstacles to self-culture confront the teacher? The 

usual result ? 

8. What are the opportunities for self-culture? 

9. What are the rewards of self-culture ? 

10. In what ways can a teacher improve himself? 

11. What are the special values of professional reading? 

12. Suggest a systematic plan for general study. 

13. What are the uses of a commonplace book? 

14. What improvement lies in reading and writing upon chosen 

subjects? 
III. Mutual Aid. 

15. State the obligations and uses of mutual aid. 

16. State ways in which teachers can encourage one another. 

17. State the values of school visitations. 

18. How can the teacher use his pen to advantage in the 

home paper? 

19. State the uses of Associations and Institutes. 

20. What faults are to be avoided in such bodies ? 

21. State and justify the cautions urged by Page regarding 

professional intercourse. 

READINGS 

(Books for Inspiration and Self-culture) 
Todd's Student's Manual. 
Blackie's Self-culture. 



\ 



TEACHER'S RELATION TO HIS PROFESSION 319 

Smiles's Self-help. 
P^othergiirs The Will Power. 
Lubbock's Pleasures of Life. 
Baldwin's The Book Lover. 
Hamerton's Intellectual Life. 
Brown's What is Worth While. 
Farrar's Life of Christ. 
Stalker's Life of St. PauL 
De Guimps's Life of Pestalozzi. 
Hinsdale's Life of Horace Mann. 



(Pedagogical Books worth accumulating gradually 
and mastering completely) 

Arnold's Waymarks for Teachers. 

Svvett's Methods of Teaching. 

Roark's Psychology in Education. 

Fitch's Lectures on Teaching. 

Halleck's Psychology and Psychic Culture. 

Davis's Elements of Psychology. 

Morgan's Studies in Pedagogy. 

Compayre's Lectures on Teaching. 

Baldwin's Art of School Management. 

White's School Management. 

Compayre's History of Pedagogy. 

Painter's History of Education. 

Quick's Educational Reformers. 

Plato's Republic. 

Quintilian's Institutes. 

Putnam's Manual of Pedagogics. 

Spencer's Education. 

Bain's Education as a Science. 

Rosenkranz's Philosophy of Education. 

Payne's Contributions to the Science of Education. 

Rousseau's Emile. 

Bowen's Froebel. 

Herford's Student's Froebel. 

FroebeFs Education of Man. 

De Garmo's Herbart and the Herbartians. 



CHAPTER XV 

MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS 

" Power ceases in the instant of repose ; it resides in the moment 
of transition from a past to a new state, in the shooting of the 
gulf, in the darting of an aim." — Emerson. 

On looking over the notes which I have at various 
times made of my own experience and observation, dur- 
ing twenty years of practical teaching, I find there are 
several thoughts which may be of some service to the 
young teacher, and which have not been introduced 
under any of the general topics of this volume. I have 
therefore thought best to introduce a special chapter, 
with the above title, where I might lawfully bring to- 
gether, without much regard to method, such varied 
hints as may convey to some reader a useful lesson. 
Some of these hints will refer to faults which should be 
carefully avoided, while others will point out some 
duties to be peiformed. 

SECTION I. THINGS TO BE AVOIDED 

I. Guard against prejudice on entering a school. 
It is not always safe to rely upon first impressions as 
to character. At the opening of a school, perhaps fifty 
individuals for the first time are brought before the 
teacher. Some of them are from humble life, and per- 
haps bear upon them the marks of parental neglect. 
Their persons and their clothing may present nothing 

320 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS 32 1 

to attract and gratify the eye of a stranger. Little ac- 
customed to society they exhibit an awkward bashful- 
ness, or an impertinent forwardness in their manner. 
Contrasted with these, others appear who have been 
the children of indulgence, and who have seen much 
more of the world. A more expensive garb attracts the 
eye ; a more easy and familiar address, conforming to 
the artificial modes of society, is very likely to win the 
heart. The teacher is very prone to find his feelings 
committed in favor of the latter class and against the 
former. But this is all wrong. A judgment thus 
hastily formed is extremely hazardous, — as a few days' 
acquaintance will usually show. The child of blunt or 
shy demeanor often has the truest heart, — a heart whose 
sentiments go out by the shortest course, — a heart that 
has never learned the artificial forms of the world, be- 
cause it has never felt the need of them. And how 
unjust to the child is a prejudice founded on the circum- 
stance of dress ! Must the inability or neglect of his 
parents be doubly visited on him } Is it not enough that 
he daily feels the inward mortification of a contrast with 
his more favored schoolfellows } Must he be painfully 
reminded of it by discovering that his teacher repels 
him on that account, and bestows his kindliest smiles 
upon those that are " the brightest and best clad " } 

And yet such unjust prejudice is common ; wrong 
and unfeeling as it is, it is too common. A fine dress, 
and a clean face, and a graceful manner, I know are 
attractive ; but the teacher has to do with the mind 
and the heart; — and he should never be deterred by 
anything exterior from making a diligent and patient 
search for good qualities which have their home behind 
the surface, — ■ and he should ever possess a smile as 

B.-P. THE. e>t PR. TEACHING — 21 



322 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

cordial and a tone as parental for the neglected child of 
poverty and ignorance, as for the more favored son of 
wealth and ease. 

2. Do not allow your pupils to dwect their own 
studies. Whatever their age may be, they are seldom 
capable of doing this. It is the aim of the young to 
get over a long course of study. They are usually 
pleased to belong to higher classes before they have 
mastered the branches taught in the lower. If children 
are suffered to direct their own studies, they usually 
make themselves very poor scholars. This is the bane 
of many of our select schools and academies, where the 
teacher yields this right in order to secure pupils and a 
salary. But no one, not even the parent, is as com- 
petent as the teacher ought to be to direct in this mat- 
ter. He has the best opportunity daily to fathom the 
pupil's attainments and to understand his deficiencies. 
He may claim the right to direct. In case the pupil 
withstands his decision, the teacher should appeal to 
the parent, and endeavor there to sustain his point, a 
thing generally within his power if indeed he is right. 
If the parent, too, is obstinate, and firmly insists upon 
the wrong course, the teacher may perhaps submit, 
though he cannot submit without the consciousness that 
his province has been invaded. 

It is too frequently the case that the teacher at the 
first yields all this ground voluntarily, by asking the 
children what they wish to study. When he has once 
made them a party in this question he need not wonder 
if they claim to be heard. This he should not do. He 
should first be sure that he is qualified to direct aright, 
and then, as a matter of course, proceed to do it, just as 
the physician would prescribe for the physical malady 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS 323 

of such a child. The latter is not more the rightful 
duty of the physician, than the former is of the school- 
teacher. Neither has the power to enforce his pre- 
scription against the parents' consent, — but that con- 
sent may be taken for granted by both till informed 
that it is withheld. 

I may here remark that in all my intercourse with the 
young, whether in the common or the higher school, I 
have found no greater evil than that of proceeding to 
the more difficult branches before the elementary studies 
have been mastered. It is no uncommon thing to find 
those who have " attended " to the higher mathematics 
— algebra, geometry, and the like — whose reading and 
writing are wretched in the extreme, and whose spelling 
is absolutely intolerable! They have been pursuing 
quadratics, but are unable to explain why they *' carry 
one for every ten"; they have wandered among the stars 
in search of other worlds, by the science of astronomy, 
without knowing the most simple points in the geog- 
raphy of our own ; they have studied logarithms and 
infinite series, but cannot be safely trusted to add a col- 
umn of figures, or to compute the simple interest upon 
a common note ! In short, they have studied every- 
thing, except what is most useful to be known in prac- 
tical life, and have really learned — nothing ! 

Now if this evil — grievous and extensive as it is at 
present — is destined ever to be abated, it is to be ac- 
complished by the instrumentality of the teacher, acting, 
in his appropriate sphere, in the capacity of a director 
as to the course of study for the young. He must not 
be a man who can merely teacJi, but one who under- 
stands the high import of a true education, and knows 
how to prescribe the order of its progress ; one, in 



324 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

short, who will never attempt to erect a showy super- 
structure upon an insufficient foundation. 

3. Do not attempt to teach too many things. There 
is a tendency at present to introduce too many things 
into all our schools. Nothing is more common than to 
hear our public lecturers declare, as they become a 
little enthusiastic in any given department, that *' this 
branch should at once be made a study in our common 
schools." This is heard of almost the whole round of 
the natural sciences. But it seems to me to be dictated 
by overwrought enthusiasm. Every tJiing cannot be well 
tanght in onr schools ; nor should too much be attempted. 
It is the province of our schools — particularly our com- 
mon schools — to afford tJiorougJi instrnction iji a few 
things, and to awaken a desire for more extended attain- 
ment. The instruction given should, as far as possible, 
be complete in itself, — while it should afford the means 
of making further advancement ; but that instruction 
which, being merely superficial, neither itself informs 
the mind nor imparts the desire and the means of future 
self-improvement, is worse than useless, it is positively 
injurious. A few branches thoroughly possessed are 
worth more than a thousand merely glanced at, — and 
the idea of changing our common schools to universities, 
where our children, before they pass from the years of 
their babyhood, are to grasp the whole range of the 
sciences, is one of the most preposterous that has 
grown up even in this age of follies. The teacher then 
should not undertake too much ; he should be sure that 
he can accomplish what he undertakes. The mark he 
makes upon the yonng should be no imcertain sign. 

4. Never attend to extraneous business in school hours. 
This is a common fault. Many teachers neglect their 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS 325 

duties in school to write letters or transact such other 
business as should be done at home. This is always 
wrong. There is no time for it in any school ; for a 
diligent teacher can always find full employment even 
with a small number. Besides, he has engaged to devote 
himself to the school ; and any departure from this is a 
violation of his contract. The children will so view it 
and thus lose much of their respect for the teacher. 
Moreover, if they see him neglect his business for some 
other, they will be very likely to neglect theirs, and 
thus disorder will be introduced. I hold that the 
teacher is bound to devote eveiy moment of school hours 
to active labor for the school. 

5. Avoid making excuses to visitors for the defects of 
your school. Franklin, I think, said that '' a man who 
is good for making excuses is good for nothing else." 
I have often thought of this as I have visited the schools 
of persons given to this faihng. It is sometimes quite 
amusing to hear such a teacher keep up a sort of 7nin- 
ning apology for the various pupils. A class is called 
to read. The teacher remarks, " This class has but 
just commenced reading in this book." Stephen fin- 
ishes the first paragraph, and the teacher adds : 
" Stephen has not attended school very regularly lately." 
William reads the second. ''This boy," says the 
teacher, '' was very backward when I came here, — he 
has but just joined this class." Charles executes the third. 
"That boy has an impediment in his speech." Reuben 
follows. " It is almost impossible to make a good 
reader of Reuben ; he never seems to pay the least 
attention. I have bestowed unwearied pains upon him." 
Mary takes her turn. " This girl has lost her book, and 
her father refuses to buy her another." Mary here 



326 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

blushes to the eyes, — for though she could bear his 
reproof, she still has some sense of family pride ; she 
bursts into tears, while Martha reads the next para- 
graph. ''I have tried all along," says the teacher, "to 
make this girl raise her voice, but still she will almost 
stifle her words." Martha looks dejected, and the next 
in order makes an attempt. 

Now the teacher in all this has no malicious design 
to wound the feelings of every child in the class, — and 
yet he as effectually accomplishes that result as if he 
had premeditated it. Every scholar is interested to 
read as well as possible in the presence of strangers ; 
every one makes the effort to do so; yet every one is 
practically pronounced to have failed. The visitors 
pity the poor pupils for the pain they are made thus 
needlessly to suffer, and they pity also tJie zveakiiess of 
the poor teacher, whose love of approbation has so 
blinded his own perception that he is regardless of the 
feelings of others, and thinks of nothing but his own. 

This overanxiety for the good opinion of others 
shows itself in a still less amiable light, when the 
teacher frequently makes unfavorable allusions to his 
predecessor. "When / came here,'' says the teacher 
significantly, "I found them all poor readers." Or, if 
a little disorder occurs in school he takes care to add : 
" I found the school in perfect confusion," — or, " The 
former teacher, as near as I can learn, used to allow the 
children to talk and play as much as they pleased." 
Now, whatever view we take of such a course, it is im- 
possible to pronounce it anything better than despicable 
meanness. For if the charge is true, it is by no means 
magnanimous to publish the faults of another ; and if 
it is untrue in whole or in part, as most likely it is. 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS 327 

none but a contemptible person would magnify an- 
other's failings to mitigate his own. 

There is still another way in which this love of per- 
sonal applause exhibits itself. I have seen teachers 
call upon their brightest scholars to recite, and then 
ask them to tell their age, in order to remind the visitor 
that they were very young to do so well ; and then in- 
sinuate that their older pupils could of course do much 
better. 

All these arts, however, recoil upon the teacher who 
uses them. A visitor of any discernment sees through 
them at once, and immediately suspects the teacher of 
conscious incompetency or willful deception. The pupils 
lose their respect for a man whom they all perceive to 
be acting a dishonorable part. I repeat, then, Never 
attempt to cover the defects of your schools by making 
ridiculous excuses. 

6. Never compare one child with another. It is a 
poor way of stimulating a dull pupil to compare him 
with a better scholar. It is the direct way to engender 
hatred in the mind of the one, and the most consum- 
mate self-complacency in the other. Not one child in 
a thousand can be publicly held up to the school as a 
pattern of excellence without becoming excessively vain ; 
at the same time all the other scholars will be more or 
less excited to envy. Such a course is always unsafe ; 
almost always injurious. 

7. Avoid wounding the sensibilities of a dull child. 
There will always be those in every school who are slow 
to comprehend. After their classmates have grasped 
an idea during the teacher's explanation, they still have 
a vacant stare, the unintelligent expression. This may 
be so after a second or third explanation. The teacher 



328 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

is now strongly tempted to indulge in expressions of 
impatience, if not of opprobrium. This temptation he 
should resist. Such children are to be pitied for their 
dullness, but never to be censured for it. It is an un- 
feeling thing to sting the soul that is already benighted. 
He should cheer and encourage such a slow mind to 
greater effort, by the sunshine of kind looks, and the 
warm breath of sympathy, rather than freeze up the 
feeble current of vivacity which yet remains there by a 
forbidding frown or a blast of reproach. A dull child is 
almost always affectionate ; and it is through the medium 
of kindness and patience that such a one is most effec- 
tually stimulated. 

8. Never lose your patience zvhen parents unreason- 
ably interfere with your plans. It must be expected 
that some of the parents will wish to dictate to the 
teacher what course he shall pursue, at least in relation 
to their own children. This will sometimes bring them 
to the schoolroom, perhaps in a tone of complaint, to set 
the teacher right. Whenever a parent thus steps be- 
yond the bounds of propriety, the teacher should never 
lose his self-possession. He should always speak the 
language of courtesy, in frankness, but in firmness. He 
should reason with the parent, and if possible convince 
him, — but he should never insult or abuse him. It may 
be well to propose to see him at his owm house in order 
to talk over the matter more at his leisure. I recollect 
once a parent sent a hasty refusal to purchase a neces- 
sary book for his son, — a refusal clothed in no very 
respectful language. I gave the lad a courteous note 
directed to his father, in which I intimated my desire 
to have an interview with him at his house at such time 
as he might appoint. In half an hour the boy came 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS 329 

bounding back with the desired book, informing me that 
his father said, " He guessed he might as well get the 
book and done with it." My intercourse with that 
parent was ever afterward of the most pleasant kind. 
A supercilious parent can never gain an advantage over 
a teacher, unless he can first provoke him to impatience 
or anger. As long as the teacher is perfectly self- 
possessed he is impregnable. 

9. Never make the study of the Bible a pimishment. 
I have known a teacher to assign sundry passages of the 
Bible, condemnatory of a particular sin, to be committed 
to memory as a punishment. I have also known the 
idle scholar to be detained after school to study pas- 
sages of Scripture, because he- had failed to learn his 
other lessons in due time. I believe this to be bad 
policy, as well as doubtful religion. The lessons that 
a child thus learns are always connected in his mind 
with unpleasant associations. His heart is not made 
better by truths thus learned. The Bible indeed should 
be studied by the young, but they should be attracted to 
it by the spirit of love, rather than driven to it by the 
spirit of vindictiveness. They who suppose that chil- 
dren can be made to love the Bible by being thus driven 
to the study of it, have sadly mistaken the human heart. 

10. Ride no ^'hobbies'' in teaching. Almost every 
man, in whatever vocation, has some hobby, some ^^ one 
idea,'' which he pushes forward on all occasions, no 
matter what may be the consequences. It is not strange 
that it is often thus with the teacher. If the teacher 
has any independence of mind, any originality, he will 
at some period in his life naturally incline to try 
some experiments in teaching. Partly on account of 
the novelty of the plan, and partly on account of the 



330 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

teacher's interest in the success of his own measure, he 
finds it works well in the class where it was first tried ; 
and he rejoices that he has made a discovery. Teach- 
ing now possesses a new interest for him, and he very 
likely becomes enthusiastic. He applies his new measure 
to other classes, and loudly recommends it to other 
teachers. For a time it succeeds and it becomes his 
hobby. Whenever a stranger visits his school he shows 
off his new measure. Whenever he attends a teachers' 
meeting he describes it, and perhaps presents a class of 
his pupils to verify its excellency. He abandons his old 
and long-tried plans, and persists in the new one. By 
and by the novelty has worn away and his pupils be- 
come dull under its operation, and reason suggests that 
a return to the former methods would be advisable. 
Still, because it is Jiis invention, he persists. Others 
try the experiment. Some succeed ; some fail. Some 
of them by a public speech commit themselves to it, 
and then persist in it to preserve their consistency. In 
this way a great many objectionable modes of teaching 
have gained currency and still hold their sway in many 
of our schools. 

Among these I might mention concert recitation, and 
oral instruction when made a substitute for study. Of 
the origin and tendency of the former I have spoken 
more at length in the chapter on " Conducting Recita- 
tions." Of the latter a word or two may be said in this 
place. 

It was found years ago, in the earlier attempts to 
teach the blind, that they made very rapid strides in 
acquiring knowledge through the sole medium of oral 
instruction. As might have been foreseen, they became 
intensely interested in hearing about things which had 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS 331 

surrounded them all their days, but which they had 
never seen. Shut in as they were from the privilege of 
sight, there was nothing to distract their attention from 
whatever was communicated to them through the sense 
of hearing ; and as they had been blind from their birth, 
this discipline of attention, had been going on from in- 
fancy. Under these circumstances, their progress in 
knowledge by mere oral teaching was astonishing. This 
was all well. But soon, some one conceived the idea 
of substituting oral instruction for study among seeing 
children. Immediately there was an oral mania. In- 
fant schools grew up in every village, — infant school 
manuals were prepared, filled with scientific baby talky 
for the use of the worthy dames who were to drive the 
hobby, and the nineteenth century bade fair to do more 
toward lighting up the fires of science than all time 
before had accomplished ! It was truly wonderful for 
a time to listen to the learned volubility of these same 
infant schools. The wonders of astronomy, chemistry, 
botany, and zoology, with the terms of Cuvier's classi- 
fication, and a thousand other things, were all detailed 
with astonishing familiarity by pupils under five years 
of age ! Some eminent teachers sagely took the hint, 
and adopted the oral system with their older classes. 
The sciences were taught by lectures. The pupils of 
this happy day had nothing to do but to sit and receive. 
To be sure sometimes they would become inattentive, 
and it would be discovered by their teachers that they 
did not retain qinte all that was told to them. This, 
however, was no fault of the system, it was urged ; the 
system was well enough, but unfortunately the pupils 
had eyes, and their attention was frequently diverted by 
the unlucky use of these worthless organs. A royal 



332 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

road, sure enough, was found to the temple of science, 
too long beyond mortal reach by reason of the rugged 
footpath over which the student was compelled to climb. 
Happy, glorious day ! No more must toil and thought 
be the price of success ! No more must the midnight 
oil be consumed, and the brain be puzzled, in search of 
the wisdom of ages ! No more must the eyes be pained 

— (they are hereafter to be considered incumbrances) 

— in searching the classic page ; the ear is to be the 
easy inlet to the soul ! 

Such was the hobby of 1829 to 1831 in our own coun- 
try. During sixteen years past, those babes of the in- 
fant schools have grown into " young men and maidens," 
in no way distinguished, after all, unless they have since 
achieved distinction by actual study. The pupils of 
those higher schools have obtained whatever they now 
value in their education mainly by the use of tJieij' eyes, 
notwithstanding at one time their worthy guides would 
have almost deemed it a blessing to have had their eyes 
put out. It has been found that God was indeed wise 
in the bestowment of sight, — and some at least have 
acknowledged that a method that is well suited to the 
instruction of those who are blind, because it is the only 
possible one for them, may not be the best for those 
who can see. 

At the present time the sentiment begins to prevail 
that oral instruction can never supply the place of study ; 
that the lecturing or ''pouring-in process" cannot long 
secure the attention ; that the mind by merely receiving, 
gains no vigor of its own ; and that scholars must be 
made, if made at all, mainly by their own exertions in 
the use of books. 

It would be easy to mention other examples of hobbies 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS 333 

which have been ridden by teachers very much to the 
injury of their schools. Those already given may, how- 
ever, suffice for the purpose of illustration. 

Let it be remembered, then, that no one method of 
instruction comprises all the excellencies and avoids all 
the defects of good teaching ; and that he is the wisest 
teacher who introduces a judicious variety into his modes 
of instruction, profiting by the suggestions of others, 
but relying mainly upon his own careful observation, 
eschewing all "patent methods," and never losing his 

COMMON SENSE. 

Under the head of Jwbbies, I may add one other re- 
mark. Many teachers have some favorite branch of 
study, in which, because they excel, they take special 
delight. One man is a good mathematician, another 
an expert accountant, a third a skillful grammarian. 
Now the danger is that the favorite branch of study 
may become the Jiobby, — and that the other branches 
will be neglected. This is indeed not unfrequently the 
case. 

Again, some teachers are more interested in the 
higher brancJies generally, because they were the last 
pursued in their college course, or for some other 
reason. They therefore neglect the lower studies to 
the great detriment of the youth under their charge. 
Against all such partial views the teacher should take 
great pains to guard himself. He may fall uncon- 
sciously and almost imperceptibly into some of these 
errors. 

Let me add the caution, then, — Never alloiv your 
partiality for one study, or a class of studies, to divert 
your attention from all those other branches which are 
necessary to cojtstiticte a good education. 



334 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 
SECTION II. THINGS TO BE PERFORMED 

I. Convince you?' scholars by your conduct that y oil are 
their friend. It is all-important that you should gain 
complete ascendency over the minds of your pupils. 
In no way is this point so successfully gained as by 
leading them to feel that you are their true friend. 
When they feel this, all their sentiments of generosity, 
gratitude, and love, conspire to lead them to render 
cheerful obedience to your wishes. Government then 
becomes easy ; instruction is no longer irksome ; and 
you can most cordially respond to the poet, in that 
beautiful sentiment too seldom fully realized : 

" Delightful task ! to rear the tender thought, 
And teach the young idea how to shoot, 
To pour the fresh instruction o'er the mind, 
To breathe the enlivening spirit, and to fix 
The generous purpose in the glowing breast." 

But effectually to convince them that you are thus 
their friend, is not the work of a moment. Words 
alone can never do it. You may make professions of 
interest in them, but it is all to no purpose. Your 
actions, your looks, your whole spirit must show it. 
In order thus to exhibit it, you must feel a deep, an 
all-pervading interest in the welfare of every child. 
You must love your profession, and you must love — 
sincerely love — those whom you are called to teach. 
If you do not love the work of teaching, and cannot 
bring yourself to love the children of your charge, you 
may not expect success. It was long ago declared that 
" Love only is the loan for love," — 

and this is specially true with the love of children. 
Their souls spontaneously go out after those who love 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS 335 

them. Strive, then, to gain this point with them, not 
by empty pretensions, always quickly read and as 
quickly despised by the young ; but by that full, 
frank, cordial expression of kindness in your manner 
toward them, which, being based upon deep principle 
in yourself, is sure at once to win their affection and 
their ready compliance with all your reasonable requi- 
sitions. 

II. Take special care that the schoolhouse and its ap- 
pendages are kept in good order. This is a part of every 
teacher's duty. He should have an eye that is con- 
stantly on the alert to perceive the smallest beginnings 
of injury to any part of the premises. It is often pain- 
ful to see a new schoolhouse that has with much care 
and expense been put in perfect order, very soon cut 
and otherwise disfigured by the pupils, — the glass 
broken, the ceiling soiled, the desks and floors stained 
with ink, and everything bearing the marks of youthful 
destructiveness. The teacher should be held account- 
able for such results, for he can by proper vigilance 
prevent them. 

Some of his first lessons to his pupils should be upon 
the subject of practical neatness in regard to everything 
that pertains to the school. They should be impressed 
with the belief that he holds neatness as a cardinal 
virtue. Daily should he watch to discover the first 
violation of propriety upon the premises. This first 
violation should be promptly met. There is great wis- 
dom in the adage which enjoins us to " resist the 
beginnings y 

So, too, he should exercise an oversight of the books 
belonging to the pupils. Many books are speedily de- 
stroyed by children for the want of a little care of the 



336 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

teacher, — probably more than are worn out by use. 
He should also occasionally inspect the desks with a 
view to promote a commendable neatness there. The 
teacher has an undoubted right to inspect any part of 
the premises, — but by a little adroitness he can inter- 
est the children in a reform of this kind, and then they 
wilt deshe that he should witness their carefulness. 

I rhay add further, that the children should not only 
be taught to respect the schoolhouse and its append- 
ages, but they should be taught to regard the sacred- 
ness of all property either public or private. The 
neighboring garden or orchard should be held to be 
inviolable. The teacher may not have the authority 
to compel compliance with his direction or advice be- 
yond school hours, but he should endeavor to exercise 
a moral influence in the school which will be more 
powerful even than compulsion. So in regard to pub- 
lic buildings, such as churches and courthouses ; and 
all public grounds, as parks, commons, and cemeteries, 
— the teacher should inculcate not only the duty to 
abstain from injuring them, but a commendable desire 
to see them improved and beautified. In America, it 
is remarked by foreigners, there is a strange tendency 
to destructiveness. In our public buildings, the walls 
are usually disfigured by names and drawings, and even 
our cemeteries do not escape the violence of the knives 
of visitors, the trees being cut and marked with names, 
and the flowers plucked off and carried away. It is 
to be hoped that our teachers will so exercise a reform- 
ing influence, that the next generation shall exercise a 
higher principle as well as a better taste in all these 
matters, which, small as they are, make up no mean 
part of the manners and morals of a people. 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS 337 

III. When scholars do wrong, it is sometimes best to 
zvithJioId immediate reproof, but to describe a similar 
case iji general instrnction. This is one of the most 
effectual modes of curing the evil in the wrongdoer 
himself. It, moreover, gives the teacher a valuable 
text for a lesson on morals before the whole school. 
Care should generally be taken not to lead the school to 
suspect the individual in your mind, while at the same 
time the parable should so fit the case as to preclude 
the necessity of saying to the offender, as Nathan did 
to David : *' Thou art the man." 

A case will illustrate this. I recollect once to have 
found, among a large number of compositions presented 
by a class, one that I knew to have been copied. No 
notice was taken of it at the time ; but some days after- 
ward a case was described to the class, resembling the 
one that had actually occurred. After exciting consid- 
erable interest in the case, they were told that such a 
thing had happened among their own number; that I 
did not choose to expose the individual ; but if any of 
them thought it would be honorable for them to confess 
such an offense to me in case they had committed it, 
they might seek a private opportunity to do so. In less 
than twenty-four hours no less than four made such a 
confession, detailing freely the extent and the circum- 
stances of their offending. In this way four were re- 
formed, where by direct reproof only one could have 
been reached. It was a frank, not a forced confession ; 
and I was thus easily made to know the extent of this 
sin in the school. By this simple expedient, I have 
reason to believe, plagiarism was effectually eradicated 
for that term at least, in the whole class, and that too 
without the loss of any pupil's good will. 

B.-P. THE. & PR. TEACHING — 22 



338 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

It is generally wiser to endeavor to reach the evil in 
its whole extent, than to expend one's strength upon a 
single instance of wrongdoing. The conscience of 
the whole school may sometimes be profitably aroused, 
while the particular individual is quite as effectively 
corrected as he would be by a direct reproof. 

IV. Be accurate. This is necessary in order to secure 
the respect of your pupils. What the teacher professes 
to know he should be sure of. Approximations to the 
truth are not enough to satisfy the young mind. When- 
ever a teacher makes a blunder by stating what is not 
true in regard to any fact or principle in science, any 
event in history, or any item of statistics, he lowers 
himself very much in the estimation of all those who 
are capable of detecting his error. If he does not knoiv 
he may frankly say so and incur no just censure, pro- 
vided the point be one about which he has not had 
the opportunity to gain the requisite information. But 
when he attempts to speak with the authority of a 
teacher, he "should know that whereof he affirms." 
"The character of the teacher," says Professor Olmsted, 
"is sullied by frequent mistakes, like that of a book- 
keeper or banker. It is surprising to see how soon even 
the youngest learner will lose his confidence and respect 
for his teacher, when he has detected in him occasional 
mistakes. At every such discovery he rises in his own 
estimation, and the teacher proportionally sinks. The 
very character of the pupil is injured by such an inci- 
dent. He rapidly loses the docility and modesty so 
essential to the scholar, and becomes upHfted with 
pride and self-importance." The superciliousness thus 
induced becomes a sore vexation to the teacher. He 
finds that his pupils are watching for his halting, — and 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS 339 

he frequently fails, from this very circumstance, to do 
as well as he might. I know of no more pitiable con- 
dition on earth than that of a teacher who is attempt- 
ing- to teach what he does not fully understand, while 
he is conscious that his pupils doubt his ability, from a 
frequent detection of his mistakes. 

V. Cultivate a pleasant countenaiice. Frowns and 
scowls always sit with ill grace upon the teacher's brow. 
I know that the trials and perplexities incident to his 
daily life are eminently fitted "to chafe his mood" and 
to provoke his impatience. I know, too, that protracted 
confinement from the pure air and the bright sunlight 
will almost necessarily render the nervous system mor- 
bidly sensitive, and the temper of course extremely 
irritable. The outward exponent of all this is a de- 
jected and perhaps an angry countenance. The eye- 
brows are drawn up so that the forehead is deeply and 
prematurely furrowed, while the angles of the mouth 
are suffered to drop downward as if in token of utter 
despair. By and by the roguishness of some unlucky 
urchin disturbs the current of his thoughts, — and 
suddenly the brow is firmly knitted with transverse 
channels, the nostrils are distended, the jaws are firmly 
closed, the lips are compressed, the cheeks are flushed, 
and the eyes almost emit sparks from the pent-up fire 
within him. For the next half hour he frowns on all 
about him. The children at first are awed by such a 
threatening aspect, — but soon they become accustomed 
to it, and the terrible very naturally gives place to the 
ridiculous. 

No man has a moral right to render those uncomfort- 
able who surround him, by habitually covering his face 
with the looks of discontent and moroseness. It is 



340 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

peculiarly zvrong for the teacher to do it. It is for him 
to present an example of self-government under all cir- 
cumstances so that he can consistently enforce the duty 
of self-control upon the young. It is for him to show 
himself a man of principle, of benevolence, of cheerful 
devotion to his duty, however full of trials that duty 
may be ; and in no way can he do this more effectually 
than by an amiable and engaging countenance. A 
peevish, frowning teacher is very likely to produce 
petulance and sullenness in his pupils ; while a cordial 
smile, like the genial beam of the spring-day sun, not 
only sheds a welcome light on all around, but imparts 
a blessed heat which penetrates the frigidity of the 
heart, dissipates the cheerless mists that hover there, 
and warms the generous affections into life and beauty. 

We are so constituted that the inward and the out- 
ward sympathize with each other. Solomon says, '' A 
merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance," — and I 
may venture to add, and with almost as much truth, a 
cJieerfid countenance maketh a merry heart. An honest 
attempt to bless others with the sight of a countenance 
that is expressive of content and patience is an act so 
praiseworthy in itself that it will never go unrewarded. 
The gratifying response w^hich such a countenance is 
sure to call forth from others, brings with it a rich 
revenue of inward enjoyment. He, therefore, who 
habitually bears about with him a sad or an angry 
countenance, while he constantly impairs the happiness 
of others, lacks at the same time an important instru- 
mentality for securing his own. 

But the question will arise, — can a man gain such 
ascendency over himself as to control the expression of 
his countenance } I answer, without hesitation, Yes. 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS 34 1 

"Whatever ought to be done, can be done." It. is not 
perfectly easy to do it, especially for the teacher. Still, 
self-control — full, complete self-control — is his appro- 
priate duty as well as privilege. He must, as Carlyle 
quaintly enjoins, '' learn to devour the chagrins of his 
lot." He must calculate beforehand that every day 
will bring its cares and its trials ; but he should daily 
resolve that they shall never take him by surprise, nor 
betray him into sudden impatience. Each morning as 
he walks to the scene of his labors, he should fortify 
himself against sudden anger or habitual moroseness in 
this wise : " No doubt this day some untoward occur- 
rence will transpire, calculated to try my patience and 
to provoke me to* fretful words and angry looks. All 
my past experience leads me to expect this. But this 
day I will try to resist the temptation to this weakness. 
I will try to be self-possessed. If any child is vicious, 
or fretful, or dull, or even impudent, I will endeavor to 
show that I can command myself. If I feel some angry 
passion enkindling within me, I will stop and think, 
and I will endeavor to smile before I speak. If I can 
to-day gain the victory over impatience, and can main- 
tain an even and cheerful temper, and express it con- 
stantly in my countenance, it will be easier to do it 
to-morrow. At all events P II try'' 

Taking hold thus in earnest, any man may soon be 
his own master. He can gain the victory. If he can 
do it, he ought to do it. Hence I urge it as a duty. 
Nor is it merely a duty. It is a high privilege. A 
complete victory for a single day will bring its own 
reward. A man who feels that he has risen above his 
temptation can return to his rest with a light and happy 
heart. Sleep to him will be sweet, and he will arise on 



342 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

the morrow with renewed strength for the fresh con- 
flict, — and in the moral as well as in the literal warfare, 
every contest which ends in victory gives additional 
strength to the victor, while it weakens and disheartens 
his enemy. 

VI . Study to acqidre the art of aptly ilhistratmg a 
difficiUt subject. Some teachers content themselves 
with answering in the precise language of the book 
whenever a question for information is propounded. 
This, however, is by no means sufficient, even when the 
language of the book is strictly accurate ; much less 
when the language is so vague as to convey no definite 
idea to the mind either of the learner or the teacher. 
On the other hand, a man who is apt to teach will de- 
vise some ingenious method of enlightening the mind 
of his pupil, so that he shall lay hold of the idea as with 
a manly grasp, and make it his own forever. 

This point will, perhaps, be best illustrated by an 
example. A young man was employed to take charge 
of a school for a few days during a temporary illness of 
the regular instructor. He was a good scholar, as the 
world would say, and was really desirous to answer the 
expectation of his employers. After the regular teacher 
had so far recovered his health as to be able to leave his 
room, he walked one pleasant day to the school to see 
what success attended the labors of the new incum- 
bent. A class was reciting in natural philosophy. The 
subject under consideration was — the obstacles which 
impede the notion of machinery. The attraction of 
gravity, as one of these, v/as pretty easily disposed of ; 
for the class had before been instructed on that point. 
Friction came next, tlere, too, the pupils, having had 
some practical experience of their own, in dragging 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS 343 

their sleds, in skating, or perhaps in turning a grind- 
stone, found no great difficulty. The book spoke a 
language sufficiently clear to be understood. Next 
came the "resistance of the various media," to use the 
language of the text-book. '' Yes," said the teacher, 
as one of the pupils gravely quoted this language, 
** that has no inconsiderable effect." 

'* The ' resistance of the various media ' } " — repeated 
one of the boys inquiringly, " I do not know as I un- 
derstand what media means." 

" A medium is that in which a body moves," was the 
ready reply which the teacher read from the book. 

Pupil. — A niediiLDi ? 

Teacher. — • Yes ; we say medium when we mean but 
one, and media when we mean more than one. 

Pupil. — When we mean but one t 

Teacher. — Yes; medium is singular — media is plural. 

After this discussion, which began in philosophy but 
ended in grammar, the teacher was about to proceed 
with the next question of the book. But the scholar 
was not yet satisfied, and he ventured to press his 
inquiries a little further. 

Pupil. — Is this room a medium } 

Teacher. — This room } 

Pupil. — Yes, sir; you said that a medium was "that 
in which anybody moves," and we all move in this 
room. 

Teacher. — Yes, but medium does not mean a room ; 
it is the substance in which a body moves. 

Here the lad looked perplexed and unsatisfied. He 
had no clear idea of the meaning of this new term. 
The teacher looked at his watch and then glanced at 
the remaining pages of the lesson and seemed impa- 



344 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

tient to proceed, — so the pupil forbore to inquire 
further. 

The regular teacher, who had listened to the discus- 
sion with no ordinary interest, both because he admired 
the inquisitiveness of the boy, and because he was curi- 
ous to discover how far the new incumbent possessed 
the power of illustration, here interposed. 

*' John," — taking his watch in his hand, — "would 
this watch continue to go if I should drop it into a pail 
of water } " 

'* I should think it would not long," said John, after 
a little reflection. 

"Why not.^" said his teacher, as he opened his 
watch. 

" Because the water would get round the wheels and 
stop it, I should think," said John. 

" How would it be if I should drop it into a quart of 
molasses 1 " 

The boys laughed. 

" Or into a barrel of tar } " 

The boys still smiled. 

" Suppose I should force it, while open, into a quan- 
tity of lard." 

Here the boys laughed heartily, while John said, 
"The watch would not go in any of these articles." 

^^ Articles f said his teacher, "why not say media ?'' 

John's eye glistened as he caught the idea. " O, I 
understand it now." 

His teacher then said that many machines worked in 
air, — then the air was the medium. A fish swims in 
water, — water is his medium. A fish could hardly 
swim in molasses or tar. " Now," inquired he, " why 
not.?" 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS 345 

" Because of the resistance of the medium," said 
John, with a look of satisfaction. 

" Now, why will the watch go in air and not in 
water? " 

'' Because the water is more dense," said John 
promptly. 

*' Then upon what does the resistance of a medium 
depend t " 

Here the new teacher interposed and said that was 
the next question in the book, and he was just going to 
ask it himself. The regular teacher put his watch into 
his pocket and became a spectator again, and the les- 
son proceeded with unwonted vivacity. The difference 
between these two teachers mainly consisted in the fact 
that one had the ingenuity to devise an expedient to 
meet a difficulty whenever occasion required, — the 
other had not. 

Now in order to teach well a man should diligently 
seek for expedients. He should endeavor to foresee 
the very points where the learner will stumble, and pro- 
vide himself with the means of rendering timely aid. 
If an object cannot be described in words, let it be com- 
pared with what it resembles, or with what it contrasts. 
If it be an object of sense, and words and comparisons 
fail to describe it, — in the absence of apparatus to 
represent it, let the teacher spring to the blackboard 
and execute a hasty drawing of it. In this way the 
construction or the working of a machine, the form of 
a bone or the action of a joint, the shape of a town or 
the plan of a building, — in short, almost every subject 
that involves the relations of form, size, proportion, 
quantity, or number, will admit of visible illustration. 
He is the successful teacher who is able at the mo- 



346 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

ment to seize upon the best expedient, and render it 
subservient to his purpose. 

VI I. Taking advantage of tmiLSital occiLvrences to make 
a moi'al or religions impression. In a former chapter 
I have urged it as a part of the teacher's work to cul- 
tivate and strengthen both the moral sentiments and 
the religious feelings of the members of his school. 
This' is not most effectually done by a formal mode of 
speaking to them on these subjects. If a particular 
hour is set apart for formal lectures on their duty to 
their fellow-men and their obligations to God, they are 
very apt to fortify their sensibilities against the most 
faithful appeals, and thus render them powerless. The 
wise teacher will watch for the fit opportunity, and, just 
at the moment when the heart is prepared by some 
suitable occurrence, — when by some exhibition of the 
Creator's power it is awed into reverence or softened 
into submission ; or by some display of his goodness it 
is warmed into gratitude or animated with delight, — - 
with a few words, seasonably and ''fitly spoken," he 
fixes the impression forever. Speaking at the right 
time, every ear listens, and every heart feels. Perhaps 
many of my readers can revert to some season in their 
childhood, endeared to them by a precious recollection 
of golden words thus opportunely uttered, — words 
fraught with truth which in after life has had an un- 
speakable influence in the formation of their character. 
One or two examples connected with my own experi- 
ence may be presented more fully to illustrate my mean- 
ing ; while at the same time they may afford, it is hoped, 
some valuable hints for the encouragement and guidance 
of such young teachers as desire in this way to make 
themselves the instruments of lasting benefit to the young. 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS 347 

Example I. — I can never forget — nor would I if I 
could — a lesson impressed upon my own youthful mind, 
conveying the truth that we are constantly dependent 
upon our Heavenly Father for protection. In a plain 
country schoolhouse some twenty-five children, includ- 
ing myself, were assembled with our teacher on the 
afternoon of a summer's day. We had been as happy 
and as thoughtless as the sportive lambs that cropped 
the clover of the neighboring hillside. Engrossed with 
study or play, — for at this distance of time it is im- 
possible to tell which, — we had not noticed the low 
rumbling of the distant thunder till a sudden flash of 
lightning arrested our attention. Immediately the sun 
was veiled by the cloud, and a corresponding gloom 
settled upon every face within. The elder girls with 
the characteristic thoughtfulness of woman hastily in- 
quired whether they should not make the attempt to 
lead their younger brothers and sisters to the paternal 
roof before the bursting of the storm. For a moment 
our little community was thrown into utter confusion. 
The teacher stepped hastily to the door to survey more 
perfectly the aspect of the western heavens. Immedi- 
ately returning, he signified to the children that there 
would not be time for them to reach their homes before 
the tempest would be upon them. Oppressed with 
dread, — for it is no uncommon thing for children in 
the country to be terrified by lightning, — some of the 
youngest of us clung to our older brothers or sisters, 
while others, being the sole representatives of their 
family in the school, for the first time felt their utter 
loneliness in the midst of strangers, and gave utter- 
ance to their feelings in audible sighs or unequivocal 
sobs. 



348 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

The teacher, meanwhile, with an exemplary calmness 
and self-possession, closed the windows and the doors 
and then seated himself quite near the younger pupils, 
to await the result. The thick darkness gathered about 
us as if to make the glare of the lightning by contrast 
more startling to our vision ; while the loud thunder 
almost instantly followed, as it were the voice of God. 
The wind howled through the branches of a venerable 
tree near by, bending its sturdy trunk and threatening 
to break asunder the cords which bound it to its mother 
earth. An angry gust assailed the humble building 
where we were sheltered ; it roared down the capacious 
chimney, violently closed a shutter that lacked a fasten- 
ing, breaking the glass by its concussion, and almost 
forced in the frail window sashes on the westerly side 
of the room. Quicker and more wild the lightnings 
glared — flash after flash — as if the heavens were on 
fire ; louder and nearer the thunder broke above our 
heads, while the inmates of the room, save the teacher, 
were pale with terror. 

At this moment there was a sudden cessation of the 
war of elements, — a hush — almost a prophetic pause! 
It was that brief interval which precedes the falling 
torrent. A dread stillness reigned within the room. 
Every heart beat hurriedly, and every countenance told 
the consternation that was reigning within. It was an 
awful moment ! 

With a calm voice, breathing a subdued and confiding 
spirit, the teacher improved this opportunity to impress 
upon our young minds a great truth. '* Fear not, 
children," said he, "it is your Heavenly Father that 
sends the storm as well as the sunshine and the gentle 
breeze. You have been just as much in his power all 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS 349 

day as you are at this moment. He has been as near 
you, supporting you, supplying you with breath, with 
life, all through the pleasant morning ; but then you 
did not see him. He is just as able to protect you now, 
for ' Not a sparrow falls to the ground without his 
notice,' — and he ruleth the storm and 'rideth upon the 
wings of the wind.' We should ever feel willing to 
trust him ; for he is ever able to grant us deliverance 
from all our dangers. God is here now to protect us." 

Just as he had finished these words the rain began to 
fall. First the drops were few and scattered ; but soon 
the windows of heaven were opened and the thirsty 
ground was abundantly satisfied. The sound of the 
thunder became fainter and fainter as the cloud passed 
away ; the sun burst out again in renewed splendor ; 
the full drops glittered in his beams upon the grass; 
the birds began their songs ; the rainbow spanned the 
eastern hills ; and our hearts, taught by the timely in- 
struction of a good man, began to expand with eager 
gratitude for our preservation by the hand of our 
Heavenly Father. 

The remainder of the afternoon passed happily away, 
and when our books were laid aside and we were ready 
to burst out of the room to enjoy the refreshing air and 
participate in the general joy, the teacher, taking the 
Bible from the desk, asked us to remain quiet a mo- 
ment while he would read a few words that he hoped 
we should never forget. 

The passage was the following, from the 65th 
Psalm : 

" By terrible things in righteousness wilt thou answer us, O God of 
our salvation ; who art the confidence of all the ends of the earth, 
and of them that are afar off upon the sea. Which by his strength 



350 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

setteth fast the mountains ; being girded with power : which stilleth 
the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the 
people. 

They also that dwell in the uttermost parts are afraid at thy 
tokens : thou makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to 
rejoice. 

Thou visitest the earth and waterest it: thou greatly enrichest it 
with the river of God, which is full of water : thou preparest them 
corn, .when thou hast so provided for it. 

Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly : thou settlest the 
furrows thereof: thou makest it soft with showers : thou blessest the 
springing thereof. 

Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop 
fatness. They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness: and the 
little hills rejoice on every side. 

The pastures aie clothed with flocks ; the valleys also are covered 
over with corn ; they shout for joy, they also sing." 

After closing the book the teacher said : " Go out now, 
children, and witness how perfectly these words have 
been fulfilled toward us this afternoon, — and from this 
day's mercies, learn hereafter to trust God as confidently 
in the storm, when he displays his power by his outward 
'tokens,' as when he kindly smiles upon you in the 
beams of the glorious sun, or gently breathes upon you 
in the morning breeze." 

We went forth bounding in gladness and gratitude 
and saw the ''outgoings of the evening to rejoice," — 
"the pastures clothed with flocks," — "the valleys cov- 
ered over with corn," — "the little hills rejoicing on 
every side ; " — we heard also the general shout for joy, 
— and we felt as we never before had felt, a deep, 
thorough, abiding conviction of the truth that God is 
our father and our friend ; the God of our salvation. 

I know not how soon these impressions faded from 
the minds of the other children, — but for myself I can 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS 35 1 

say, that from that time to the present, whenever I have 
been exposed to apparent danger from the impending 
tempest, the warring elements, or the ravages of disease, 
the teachings of that hour have always revived in my 
mind to soothe my troubled spirit and to reassure my 
faith and confidence in the presence of an all-sufficient 
and merciful Preserver. A thousand times have I 
devoutly blessed the memory of that faithful teacher, 
for having so early and so happily turned my thoughts 
upward to Him in whom '' we live, and move, and have 
our being," .^ 

Example II. — It was in the afternoon of a gloomy 
day in the latter part of November, when the pupils, 
consisting of some fifty boys belonging to a school in 
a pleasant seaport town in New England, were told by 
their teacher a few minutes before the usual hour that 
they might lay aside their studies and prepare for dis- 
mission. During the early part of the day there had 
been one of those violent southeast rain storms so com- 
mon upon the seacoast at that season of the year. It 
is well know^i to the observing mariner that a storm 
from the southeast never continues beyond twelve or 
fifteen hours ; and when the violence of the storm 
abates it is a common remark of the sailor that *' The 
northwester is not long in debt to the southeaster." 
Previous to this change of wind, however, there is what 
is expressively termed the ''lull of the storm,'' — a 
period when the rain ceases to fall, the wind dies away 
to a perfect calm, the barometer is suddenly depressed, 
the clouds hover almost upon the face of the earth, 
shutting out the light of the sun, and causing a cheer- 
less damp to settle upon everything terrestrial, and a 
dreary gloom to enshroud the mind itself. When the 



352 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

wind changes, these clouds are not gradually dissolved 
and broken up, so that the eye can catch transient 
glimpses of the blue sky beyond, as after a snowstorm 
in winter ; but the dark drapery is suddenly lifted up 
as if by an unseen hand, and the western sky, from the 
horizon upward, is left more bright and more charming 
than ever to refresh the eye and reanimate the soul. 

It was such a day as before remarked when the 
pupils of this school — partly because of the darkness 
in the schoolroom, and partly because of their protracted 
confinement within a close apartment during a gloomy 
afternoon — were a little earlier than usual about to 
be dismissed. The pupils all seemed to welcome the 
happy release that awaited them, — and in their eager- 
ness to escape from confinement they very naturally 
neglected to observe their accustomed regard for quiet 
and order in laying aside their books. It was, however, 
a fixed habit with .the teacher never to give the signal 
for leaving the room till all the pupils had taken the 
proper attitude for passing out with regularity, and then 
had composed themselves to perfect silence. On this 
occasion perhaps two minutes passed away while the 
boys were gradually, almost impatiently, bringing them- 
selves to a compliance with this rule of the teacher. 

During this interval of waiting, the cloud, unper- 
ceived by the teacher, had been slowly raised up from 
the western horizon, just in time to allow the setting 
sun to bestow a farewell glance upon the sorrowing 
world at his leave-taking. Through the Venetian 
blinds that guarded the windows toward the west, the 
celestial light gleamed athwart the apartment, and 
painted the opposite wall in front of the pupils with 
streaks of burnished gold ! In an instant every coun- 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS 353 

tenance was changed. A smile now joyously played 
where before sadness and discontent had held their 
moody reign. The teacher was reminded by all these 
circumstances of the beautiful language of the prophet, 
which promised the gift of "the gannerit of pj^aise for 
the spirit of Jieavinessy What could be more appro- 
priate on this occasion than a song oi praise? With- 
out speaking a single word, the teacher commenced 
one of the little songs already familiar to the whole 

school : 

" Lo the heavens are breaking 
Pure and bright above ; 
Life and light awaking, 
Murmur — God is love. 

God is love. 

" Round yon pine-clad mountain, 
Flows a golden flood ; 
Hear the sparkling fountain, 
Whisper — God is good. 

God is good. 

" Wake, my heart, and springing 
Spread thy wings above, — 
Soaring still and singing, 
God is ever good. 

God is good." 

Instantly every voice that had ever sung now uttered 
heartfelt praise. The attendant circumstances, taken 
at the happy moment, furnished such an impressive 
commentary upon the import of the words that they 
were felt, as they never before had been felt, to be the 
words of precious truth. Every heart throbbed in 
unison with the sentiment. At the close of the song 
there was profound silence in the room. After a 
moment's pause, during which the truth that God is 

B.-P. THE. & PR. TEACHING — 23 



354 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

good seemed to pervade each mind and hold it in silent 
reverence, — the signal for departure was given. One 
after another the boys passed from their seats with a 
light and careful step, as if noise and haste would be a 
desecration both of the time and place, — and when they 
reached the open air, refreshing and exhilarating as it 
was, there was no boisterous shout, no rude mirth; 
each took his homeward course, apparently with a new 
and lively conviction that God is good. 

It has always been a source of pleasure to that teacher 
to recall from the " buried past " the associations con- 
nected with that delightful hour and that charming 
song ; and it has been among the most gratifying inci- 
dents of his experience as a teacher to hear more than 
one of those pupils in later life recur to the memory of 
that day, and acknowledge with thankfulness the lasting 
impressions which then and there were made upon their 
minds. 



It would be easy to furnish examples to almost any 
extent of the manner in which this principle has been 
or may be carried out in practice. The degradation of 
an intoxicated person who may pass the school, — the 
pitiable condition of the man who may wander through 
the streets bereft of his reason, — any instance of sudden 
death in the neighborhood, particularly of a young per- 
son, — the passing of a funeral procession, — in short, 
any occurrence that arrests the attention of the young 
and enlists their feeling, may be seized upon as the 
means of making upon their minds an impression for 
good. The facts developed in many of their lessons, 
too, afford opportunities for incidental moral instruc- 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS 355 

tion. The adaptation of means to ends, — the evidence 
of design and intelHgence displayed in the works of 
creation, — the existence of constant and uniform laws 
as developed in the sciences, all furnish the means of 
leading the young mind to God. 

That teacher will enjoy the richest satisfaction in the 
evening of life, who, in looking back upon his past 
experience, shall be conscious that he has improved 
every opportunity which God has given him to turn the 
youthful affections away from the things of earth to 
seek a worthier object in things above. 

TOPICAL OUTLINE 

I . Things to be Avoided. 

1. Prejudice against ill-dad or unprepossessing pupils. 

2. Allowing pupils to direct their own studies. 

a. The common evil of classing pupils too high. How 
caused and how remedied? 

3. Attempting to teach too many things. 

a. The danger of overcrowding our school courses. 

b. The special province of common schools. 

c. The evils of superficial instruction. 

4. Attending to extraneous business during school hours. 

5. Making excuses to visitors. 

a. Franklin's maxim. 

b. Defects of character in the teacher indicated by 

excuses. 

c. Illustrate the evil, and its effects upon pupils. 

6. Comparing one child with another. 

a. Effects upon dull pupils ? Upon bright pupils ? 

7. Wounding the sensibilities of a dull child. 

a. The one means of quickening the mind of a dull 
pupil ? 

8. Losing patience with unreasonable parents. 

a. The values of patience and self-control. 

9. Making a punishment of Bible study. 

a. The effects of it? 



356 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

10. Riding hobbies. 

a. Illustrate. 

b. A safe rule regarding hobbies. 

c. The faults and the uses of concert recitations. 

d. The uses and the limitations of oral instruction. 

Read: Morgan's Educational Mosaics, p. 'j^i- 
Compayre's Psychology applied to Edu- 
cation, pp. 117, 122, 124. 
II. Tilings to be Performed. 

1. Convincing scholars of a genuine friendship for them. 

a. How? 

b' The effects upon pupils of a genuine concern about 
them. 

2. Keeping the schoolhouse and its appendages in good order. 

a. The lesson to be learned and its value. 

3. Administering reproof indirectly, sometimes. 

a. Case in illustration. 
b Effects of the plan. 

4. Accuracy of scholarship. 

a. Effect upon pupils of inaccuracies detected in the 

teacher. 

b. Effects upon the teacher. 

5. Wearing a pleasant countenance. 

a. Effects of scowling. 

b. Effects of enforced cheerfulness. 

c. The duty of self-control. 

d. Its values. How accomplished? 

6. The art of illustrating aptly and readily. 

a. Recite the capital illustration given. 

b. A common fault in teachers. 

c. Reasons for teaching illustratively. 

d. Opportunities for illustration. 

7. Taking advantage of unusual occurrences to teach moral 

and religious lessons. 

a. Recall the examples given and the use made of 

the opportunities. 

b. Common occasions for such lessons. 
C' The futility of ordinary moral lectures. 

Read : Morgan's Educational Mosaics, p. 54. 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS 357 

WRITTEN EXERCISES 
D07lHs. 

1. Don't lose patience with a dull child. 

2. Don't fail to keep the child's fingers busy. 

3. Don't expect your pupils to study more than you do. 

4. Don't stop till you have found the good thing in the bad 

child. 

5. Don't forget that the teacher's moral authority is dependent 

upon the respect and love of the children. 
[Extend this list.] 
Suggestions. 

1. Commend more and you may need to command less. 

2. Throw yourself on the side of your critic. 

3. Go to your classes with prearranged lesson plans. 

4. Your pupils will not learn to express themselves until you 

learn how to suppress yourself. 

5. Be interested in the whole life of the community in which 

you teach. 
[Extend this list.] 



CHAPTER XVI 

THE REWARDS OF THE TEACHER 

" Far above the conqueror of kingdoms, the destroyer of hosts by 
the sword and the bayonet, is he whose tearless victories redden no 
river and whiten no plain, but who leads the understanding a willing 
captive, and builds his empire, not of the wrenched and bleeding 
fragments of subjugated nations, but on the realms of intellect which 
he has discovered, and planted, and jDeopled with beneficent activity 
and enduring joy ! " — Horace Greeley. 

I. They do not lie in money getting. It is proverbial 
that the pecnniary compensation of the teacher is, in 
most places, far below the proper standard. It is very 
much to be regretted that an employment so important 
in all its bearings should be so poorly rewarded. In 
New England there are many young women who, hav- 
ing spent some time in teaching, have left that occupa- 
tion to go into the large manufacturing establishments 
as laborers, simply because they could receive a higher 
compensation. I have known several instances in 
which young ladies in humble circumstances have left 
teaching to become domestics, thus performing the most 
ordinary manual labor because they could receive better 
pay ; that is, the farmers and mechanics of the district 
could afford to pay more liberally for washing and iron- 
ing, for making butter and cheese, for sweeping floors 
and cleaning paint, than they could for educating the 
immortal minds of their children ! 

358 



REWARDS OF THE TEACHER 359 

Nor is this confined to the female sex. Young 
mechanics and farmers, as well as those employed in 
manufacturing, frequently receive higher wages than 
the common-school teacher in the same district. Many 
a young man who has only genius enough to drive the 
pegs of a shoe in a regular row, and skill enough to 
black the surface of the article when it is completed, 
having spent but a few weeks in learning his trade, 
receives more money for his work than he who, after 
having spent months, or even years, in gaining the 
requisite qualifications, labors to polish that nobler 
material, the human soul. 

The injustice of this becomes more apparent when 
we bear in mind that public opinion demands, and 
justly too, that the teacher should be not only gentle- 
manly in his manners, but better clad than the mere 
laborer, — thus throwing upon him a greater burden 
AvithoLit affording him the means of sustaining it. The 
female teacher of a district school, in order to be re- 
spectable, must be much more expensively dressed than 
the domestic in the family where she boards; and is 
thus compelled to consume most of her receipts upon 
her wardrobe, — while the domestic is able to place 
surplus money at interest in the Savings Bank. This 
injustice has so often been laid before the people, and 
yet has been so long continued, that many have given 
up in despair, and abandoned an employment that has 
yielded so little, choosing rather to engage in that lower 
service which is so much better paid. 

This sufficiently explains why so many unqualified 
teachers have been found in our common schools. Men 
of talents and ability being tempted to other employ- 
ments have left the field unoccupied ; and those men 



360 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

who have failed to gain a comfortable living by their 
hands have been allowed to try the experiment of 
supporting life by their wits, — that is, by becoming 
teachers ! 

Such has been the case for a long time past ; and, 
though in many quarters the people are beginning to 
open their eyes to their true interest, and are gradually 
and commendably coming up to their duty, yet for some 
time to come the pecuniary compensation will not con- 
stitute the chief reward of the teacher. If he will go 
cheerfully to his work, and find his dail)^ enjoyment in 
his daily toil, he must have a higher object, some more 
elevating, inspiring motive, than mere money getting. 
The chief encouragements of the faithful teacher lie in 
another direction. 

It is the objects of the following paragraphs to point 
out some of these encouragements ; for, having in the 
preceding pages required very much at his hands, I feel 
that it is but just that he should be invited to look at 
the brighter side of the picture, so that when he is ready 
to sink under the responsibilities of his position, or to 
yield to the obstacles that oppose his progress, he may 
have something to animate his soul and to nerve him 
anew for the noble conflict. 

II. The teacher's employmejit affords the means of in- 
tellectual growth. If a man teaches as he should teach, 
he must of necessity improve himself. Teaching, un- 
derstandingly pursued, gives accuracy. I know it is 
possible for a man to be a mere schoolmaster — a peda- 
gogue, without any self-improvement. But I am speak- 
ing of the faithful, devoted teacher, — the man who 
studies, reflects, invents. Such a man learns more than 
his pupils. Every time he takes a class through any 



REWARDS OF THE TEACHER 36 1 

branch of study, he does it more skillfully., more thor- 
oughly than before. He brings some fresh illustration 
of it, presents some new view of it, and hence takes a 
lively interest in it himself, and awakens a new zeal 
among his pupils. Measuring himself by his new suc- 
cess, he feels a consciousness of growth, of progress. 
This consciousness is a precious reward. 

III. The teacher's employmeiit affords the means of 
moral groivth. Brought constantly in contact with 
those who need a careful guidance, he feels impelled to 
earnest effort in order to obtain the mastery over him- 
self as the best means of gaining complete influence 
over others. Studying the weak points in their char- 
acter, he is constantly reminded of those in his own ; 
and self-knowledge is the first step toward self-improve- 
ment. Beginning in the feebleness of inexperience, he 
bolsters up his authority at first by a frequent resort to 
force; but as he goes on he finds himself gradually 
gaining such ascendency over the vicious as to control 
them quite as effectually by milder means. At first, 
easily excited to anger or impatience, he frequently in- 
dulged in severe language when it was unnecessary, — 
but by careful discipline he has learned to '' set a watch 
before his mouth and to keep the door of his lips." 
Encouraged by one victory over himself he is prepared 
for another. Having learned by self-discipline to con- 
trol his outward acts, he next attempts the mastery of 
his thoughts. He soon finds that his moral power over 
others is very much increased. Somehow — though 
perhaps he cannot yet tell the reason why — he finds he 
can secure obedience with half the effort formerly re- 
quired, — he gains the love of his pupils more readily, 
-^ and with the exception now and then of an extreme 



362 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

case, he finds that he excites a deeper interest than ever 
before in the whole round of duty among the scholars. 
Why is this ? he asks, — and the consciousness of in- 
creased moral poiver rising up within him is a source of 
the highest satisfaction. Pecuniary emolument sinks 
into nothing considered as a reward when compared 
with a conscious victory over himself. 

IV.- A conscious7iess of improvement 171 the art of teach- 
ing is another rezvard. Such improvement will follow 
as a matter of course from his self-improvement in the 
particulars just named. As his own mind expands he 
feels a new impulse to exert himself to interest others in 
the subjects he teaches. He soon comes to look upon 
the work of instruction, not as a mere mechanical busi- 
ness to be done in a formal way, but as a noble art based 
upon certain great principles that are capable of being 
understood and applied. He employs all his ingenuity 
to discover the natural order of presenting truth to 
the mind, — to ascertain the precise degree of aid the 
learner needs, and the point where the teacher should 
stop. He studies carefully the proper motives to be 
presented as incentives to exertion. Interested in his 
labor as a great work, looking upon his influence as 
telling upon all future time, he devotes himself daily 
with new zeal, and is rewarded with the conscionsness of 
nezv success. 

V. The teacher is pei''mitted also to ivitness the constant 
growth of mind among his pnpils. I say constant, be- 
cause the teacher is not obliged to labor without seeing 
immediate results. The minister of religion may some- 
times sow the seed of the good word, while the fruit 
does not appear for a long season. Sometimes a spirit- 
ual apathy prevails, so that the most faithful warnings 



REWARDS OF THE TEACHER 363 

and the most earnest appeals seem to fall powerless 
upon the conscience ; and he is led almost to despair of 
ever being able to break the deathlike slumber. It is 
not thus with the teacher. His labor tells immediately 
upon the young mind. Even while he is yet speaking 
he is gratified with observing the soul's expansion as it 
grasps and assimilates some new idea which he pre- 
sents. From day to day, as he meets his classes, he 
sees how they go on from strength to strength, — at first, 
indeed, with the halting, tottering step of the feeble 
babe, but soon with the firm and confident tread of the 
vigorous youth. 

A teacher who is for several years employed in his 
vocation is often astonished at the rapidity with which 
the young, who come to him as mere children, grow 
into men and women, and take their places on the stage 
of life as prominent actors. Some of them distinguish 
themselves in the arts ; some become noted for their 
attainments in science ; some receive the honors of 
office and become leaders in civil affairs ; some gain 
eminence as professional men ; and very likely a large 
portion of them are engaged in the various depart- 
ments of honorable industry. Wherever they are, and 
whatever they are, they are now exerting a powerful 
influence in the community. They have grown up 
under his eye, and have been essentially shaped by 
his plastic hand. He looks upon them almost with 
the interest and pride of a father. He counts them as 
his jewels ; and when he hears of their success, their 
usefulness, and their honors, his heart leaps within him, 
as he thinks, ''TJiey were 7iiy pupils'' Even though he 
may have wasted the strength of his best days in the 
service, wJiat a reward is tJiis for the teacJier! 



364 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

VI. The teacher is engaged in a tisefnl and honorable 
calling. What though he may not become rich in this 
world's goods ? Who would not prefer above houses 
and lands, — infinitely above all the wealth of earth, the 
consciousness of being engaged in a work of usefulness ? 
Man was made for usefulness, — and who would not 
desire to answer the design of his creation ? 

My pen is too feeble to attempt to portray the 
usefulness of the faithful teacher. He educates the 
immortal mind^ — wakes it to thought, — trains it to 
discipline — self-discipline, — moves it to truth and vir- 
tue, — fills it with longings for a more perfect state, 
and sends it forth to exert its power for good through 
all coming time ! " To this end," in the glowing lan- 
guage of Professor Agnew, '' he communicates a knowl- 
edge of letters, opens out gradually before the child the 
book of nature and the literature of the world ; he dis- 
ciplines his mind and teaches him how to gather knowl- 
edge from every source ; he endeavors to impart quick- 
ness and retentiveness of memory, "to cultivate a refined 
and well-regulated imagination, to task and thus to give 
vigor to his reasoning powers. He points out the ap- 
propriate objects of the several affections, and the 
proper exercise of the passions ; he gives lessons to 
conscience derived from the pure fountain of God's 
own revelation, and teaches him to subject his own 
will to the Highest Will. He instructs him in the 
various sciences and thus displays before him worlds 
of wondrous interest, and invests him with the sources 
and means of pure enjoyment. He trains him for the 
sweet sympathies of social life ; and unfolds before 
him the high behests of duty — duty to himself, his 
fellow-creatures, his family, his God. 



REWARDS OF THE TEACHER 365 

" Under such a tuition behold the helpless infant 
grown to manhood's prime, — a body well developed, 
strong, and active ; a mind symmetrically unfolded, 
and powers of intellection closely allied to those of 
the spirits in celestial spheres. He becomes a hus- 
band and a father ; in these and in all the relations 
of life he performs well his part. Above all, he is 
a Christian, with well-trained affections and a tender 
conscience, supremely loving God, maintaining a con- 
stant warfare with the world, the flesh, and the devil, 
— growing up into the stature of a perfect man in 
Christ, and anticipating the fullness of joy and pleas- 
ure for evermore which are at God's right hand. The 
time of his departure at length arrives ; he has fought 
the good fight, he has finished his course, and he goes 
to obtain his crown and to attune his harp, and forever 
to dwell on the hills of light and love, where angels 
gather immortality. Oh, what a transit ; from the de- 
pendent helplessness of infancy to the glory of a seraph ; 
from mind scarcely manifested, to mind ranging over 
the immensity of Jehovah's empire, and rising in the 
loftiest exercises of reason and affection ! A7id Jioiv 
DiiicJi has the faithful teacJier had to do in fitting Jiim 
for the blissful mansions of the skies ! " 

If such be the teacher's work, where is the limit to 
his usefulness } Yet he may do this not for one merely, 
but for scores, or even hundreds. Eternity alone can 
display the immeasurable, inconceivable usefulness of 
one devoted teacher. 

And is not the teacher's calling honorable? It is, — 
for its usefulness makes it honorable. To scatter the 
light of truth is always honorable. So some of the 
greatest and best men the world ever saw have be- 



366 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

lieved, and have illustrated their faith by their prac- 
tice. Confucius, Socrates, Seneca, Aristotle, and Plato 
were specimens of the teachers of ancient date. Roger 
Ascham, John Milton, Francke, Pestalozzi, Arnold, and 
a host of others, have adorned the profession in later 
times. Yet these are men who have taught the world 
to think. Their works live after them, — and will con- 
tinue to live, when the proud fame of the mighty war- 
riors who have marked their course in blood shall have 
perished from the earth. 

If it were necessary and not invidious, how many 
distinguished men in our own country could be men- 
tioned who have been teachers of the young, or who 
are still engaged as such. Besides those who have 
made teaching the business of their lives, how many 
have been temporarily employed in this calling. Some 
of our presidents, many of our governors, most of our 
jurists and divines, — indeed, some of every profession, 
^^ and of the chief zvonien not a few'' — have first dis- 
tinguished themselves as school-teachers. Well may 
teachers, then, regard their profession as a.n honorable 
one ; always remembering, however, that " It is not the 
position which makes the man honorable, but the man 
the position." 

VII. The teacher enjoys the grateful rernefi'tb^'ance of 
his pupils and of their friends. When a distinguished 
writer said, "God be thanked for the gift of mothers 
and schoolmasters," he expressed but the common sen- 
timent of the human heart. The name of parent justly 
enkindles the warmest emotions in the heart of him 
who has gone out from his native home to engage 
in the busy scenes of the workday world ; and when 
sometimes he retires from the companionship of new- 



REWARDS OF THE TEACHER 367 

made friends to recall the picture of the past and the 
loved of other days, — to think 

" Of childish joys, when bounding boyhood knew 
No grief, but chased the gorgeous butterfly 
And gamboFd with the breeze, that tossed about 
His silken curls — " 

how sweetly do the gentle influences of home and child- 
hood, with all their tender and hallowed associations, 
come stealing over the soul ! The world is forgotten ; 
care may not intrude upon this sacred hour; objects of 
sense are unheeded ; the call to pleasure is disregarded ; 
— while the rapt soul, introverted — transported — dwells 
with unspeakable delight upon its consecrated recollec- 
tion of all that is venerable, all that is sacred in the 
name of parent. At this favored hour, how the heart 
swells at the thought of a mother's love ! The smiles, 
the kind words, the sympathy, the counsels, the prayers, 
the tears, — how fondly the memory treasures them all 
up, and claims them for its own ! And though Death may 
have long since intruded, and consigned that gentle form 
to the cold earth, rudely sundering the cherished bonds 
of affection, and leaving the hearthstone desolate, — 
though change may have brought strangers to fell the 
favorite tree, to remove the ancient landmarks, to lay 
waste the pleasant places, and even to tread thought- 
lessly by the humble mound that marks the revered 
spot where "departed worth is laid," — though Time, 
" with his effacing fingers," may have been busy in ob- 
literating the impressions of childhood from the mind, 
or in burying them deeply beneath the rubbish of per- 
plexing cares, — still the true heart never tires with the 
thought of a fond parent, nor ever ceases to "thank 



368 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

God upon every remembrance." of a pious , devoted 
mother ! 

Thus it should ever be. Nothing on earth should be 
allowed to claim the gratitude which is justly due to 
judicious parents. But the faithful, devoted teacher, 
the former of youthful character and the guide of 
youthful study, will 'be sure to have the next place in 
the grateful heart. Whether the young man treads 
the deck of the noble ship in his lonely watch as she 
proudly walks the waters by night, — or journeys among 
strangers in foreign lands ; — wherever he goes, or how- 
ever employed, — as often as his thoughts revisit the 
scenes of his childhood, and dwell with interest upon 
the events that marked his youthful progress, he will 
recur to the old familiar schoolhouse, call up its well- 
remembered incidents — its joys and its sorrows — its 
trials and its triumphs — its all-pervading and ever-abid- 
ing influences, and devoutly thank God for the gift of a 
faithful, self-denying, patient teacher. 

But the teacher is rewarded also by the gratitude of 
parents and friends. Some of the sweetest moments a 
teacher ever experiences are those when a parent takes 
him by the hand, and with cordial sincerity and deep 
emotion thanks him for what he has done for his child. 
It may have been a wayward, thoughtless, perhaps a 
vicious boy, whom kind words and a warm heart on the 
part of the teacher have won back to the path of recti- 
tude and virtue. 

I have seen an old lady — and I shall never forget the 
sight — bending under the infirmities of age, — blind, 
and yet dependent mainly upon her labor for support, 
invoking the richest of heaven's blessings upon the head 
of a teacher who, by kindness and perseverance, had 



REWARDS OF THE TEACHER 369 

won back her wayward grandson to obedience and duty. 
How her full soul labored as she described the change 
that had taken place! Her emotion — too deep for 
utterance in words — found expression only in tears 
that streamed from her sightless eyes ! She felt that 
her boy was again a child of hope and promise, and 
that he might yet be a virtuous and a useful man. The 
world may raise its empty acclamation to honor the 
man of power and of fame, — it may applaud the states- 
man and weave the chaplet for the conqueror's brow ; 
— but the teacher, humble and obscure though he may 
be, who is the object of the widow's gratitude for being 
the orphan's friend, with the consciousness of deserving 
it, is a happier, I had almost said a greater man. Surely 
Jie receives a greater rezvard. 

Vni. TJie faithful teacher enjoys the approval of 
Heaven. He is employed, if he has a right spirit, in a 
heavenly mission. He is doing his Heavenly Father's 
business. That man should be made wiser and happier, 
is the will of Heaven. To this end, the Son of God — 
The Great Teacher — came to bless our race. So far as 
the schoolmaster has the spirit of Jesus, he is engaged 
in the same great work. Heaven regards with com- 
placency the humble efforts of the faithful teacher to 
raise his fellow-beings from the darkness of ignorance 
and the slavery of superstition ; and if a more glorious 
crown is held in reserve for one rather than another, it 
is for him who, uncheered by worldly applause, and 
without the prospect of adequate reward from his fellow- 
men, cheerfully practices the self-denial of his master, 
spending his strength, and doing with diligence and 
patience "whatsoever his hand findeth to do," toward 
raising his fellow-beings to happiness and heaven. 

B.-P. THE. & PR. TEACHING — 24 



370 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

It is such a teacher that the eloquent and gifted 
Lord Brougham describes in the following beautiful 
language : 

" He meditates and prepares, in secret, the plans 
which are to bless mankind ; he slowly gathers around 
him those who are to further their execution, — he 
quietly, though firmly, advances in his humble path, 
laboring steadily, but calmly, till he has opened to the 
light all the recesses of ignorance, and torn up by the 
roots the weeds of vice. His progress is not to be 
compared with anything like the march of the con- 
queror, — but it leads to a far more brilliant triumph, 
and to laurels more imperishable than the destroyer of 
his species, the scourge of the world, ever won. Each 
one of these great teachers of the world, possessing his 
soul in peace, performs his appointed course, awaits in 
patience the fulfillment of the promises, and, resting 
from his labors, bequeaths his memory to the genera- 
tion whom his works have blessed, and sleeps under 
the humble, but not inglorious epitaph, commemorating 
* one in whom mankind lost a friend, and no man got rid 
of an enemy' " 

In view of what has been said, let the teacher cease 
to repine at his hard lot. Let him cast an occasional 
glance at the bright prospect before him. He deserves, 
to be sure, a higher pecuniary reward than he receives ; 
and he should never cease to press this truth upon the 
community, till talent in teaching is as well compen- 
sated as talent in any other calling. But whether he 
gains this or not, let him dwell upon the privileges and 
rewards to be found in the calling itself, and take fresh 
encouragement. 



REWARDS OF THE TEACHER 371 

The apostle Paul exhibited great wisdom when he 
said, '*/ magnify mine office.'' If the foregoing views 
respecting the importance of the teacher's calling are 
correct, he may safely follow the apostle's example. 
This is not, however, to be done merely by boastful 
words. No man can elevate himself, or magnify his 
office in pubHc estimation by indulging in empty decla- 
mation, or by passing inflated resolutions. He must 
feel the dignity of his profession, and show that he 
feels it by unremitted exertions to attain to the highest 
excellence of which he is capable, — animated, in the 
midst of his toil, chiefly by the great moral recompense 
which every faithful teacher may hope to receive. 

Let every teacher, then, study to improve himself 
intellectually and morally; let him strive to advance in 
the art of teaching; let him watch the growth of mind 
under his culture and take the encouragement which 
that affords ; let him consider the usefulness he may 
effect and the circumstances which make his calling 
honorable ; let him prize the gratitude of his pupils and 
of their parents and friends ; and above all, let him 
value the approval of Heaven, .and set a proper estimate 
upon the rewards which another world will unfold to 
him, — and thus be encouraged to toil on in faithfulness 
and in hope, — till, having finished his course, and being 
gathered to the home of the righteous, he shall meet 
multitudes, instructed by his wise precept, and profited 
by his pure example, who "shall rise up and call him 
blessed." 



3/2 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING 

TOPICAL OUTLINE 

I . They do not lie in Money Getting. 

1 . The teacher's salary is relatively low. 

a. Comparisons in illustration. 

Proceedings National Educational Association for 
1885, pp. 138-150. 

2. The effects of poor salaries upon the profession. 
II. Rewards. 

1. Consciousness of intellectual growth. 

a. Conditions of intellectual growth? 

2. Consciousness of moral growth. 

a. Indications of moral growth? 

3. Consciousness of increasing efficiency. 

a. Conditions of increasing skill? 

4. Consciousness of having a useful and honorable calling. 

a. Ways in which it is useful and honorable? 

5. The gratitude of pupils and their friends. 

a. The faithful teacher's place in the pupil's memory? 

b. The gratitude of parents. 

6. The approval of Heaven. 

a. The teacher's work. Lord Brougham. 

b. How the teacher can magnify his office. 

Read: Morgan's Educational Mosaics: 
The Teacher's Monument, p. 94. 
A Lofty Aim, p. 126. 
A Work for Eternity, p. 186. 
A Bit of Advice, p. 242. 
The Teacher's Responsibility, p. 242. 
Morgan's Studies in Pedagogy : 
The Teacher's Calling, p. 313. 
The Teacher's Growth, p. 334. 
A Professional Spirit, p. 341. 
343- 



INDEX 



Abbott, quoted, 184. 
Abbott's "Teacher," 306. 
Accuracy, a requisite in teachers, 
338. 

in recitations, 149. 
Acquisition, pleasure of, 176. 
Adaptation, 241, 317, 355. 
Addison, quoted, 96. 
Advancement, desire for, 174. 
Agnew, Professor, quoted, 364. 
Agriculture, chemistry improves, 86. 
Aid, mutual, 309-317. 
Air, 2S6, 287, 290. 
Algebra, teacher's mastery of, 85. 
Alphabet, 80. 

Alternation of studies, 258. 
Ambition, evils of, 159. 
Anderson, M. B., quoted, 107. 
Anger, to be avoided, 27, 183, 235. 
Animation, need of, 145. 
Approbation, love of, 173, 188. 
Aptitude, need of, 30, 32. 
Aptness to teach, no, 138. 
Aristocracy, 188, 251, 321, 322. 
Aristotle, a teachei", 366. 
Arithmetic, mental, 46. 

review's in, 268. 

teacher's mastery of, 83, 84. 

written, 48. 
Arnold, Matthew, a teacher, 366. 
Arrangements of schools, 247-276. 
Artificial excitement, 155. 
Artificial stimulants, 178. 
Ascham, Roger, a teacher, 366. 
Assistance to child, right amount, 
III, 118. 



Astronomy, value to teacher, 91. 
Attainments, 22, 78, 79, 91, 303. 
Attention, 122, 128, 131, 138, 139, 

143, 145. 331- 
Attitude of teacher, 145. 
Auburn State Prison, 58-62. 
Authority, 183, 184, 214, 229, 230. 



B 



Babel, in classes, 263. 
Baby talk, scientific, 331. 
Bacon, Lord, quoted, 40, 299. 
Barnard, H., " Connecticut Common 
School Journal,' 307. 

" Journal of R, I. Institute," 307. 
Bible, improper use of, 213, 329. 

study of, 55, 56. 
Bigotry, to be avoided, 85. 
Biographical sketch, of Page, 1 1-20. 
Blackguardism, evil of, 212. 
Black marks, 201. 
Bond, G. C, quoted, 77. 
Bookkeeping, need of, 88. 
Books, as instruments of study, 49. 

care of, 335. 
Bronchitis, one cause of, 296. 
Brougham, Lord, quoted, 370. 

teachings of, 99. 

works on education, 307. 



Caprice, to be avoided, 28. 
Carlyle, quoted, 78, 106, 341. 
Carrying, in subtraction, 147. 
"Celebrations," 271. 



373 



374 



INDEX 



Character, 67, 74, 98, 103, 172, 174, 

320, 321, 335. 
Cheerfulness, 294, 295, 339, 340. 
Chemistry, teacher's mastery of, 86. 
Child, capacity of, 28, 100, 175, 176. 

choice of studies, 322-324. 

conscience in, 175. 

danger of misguidance, 23, 98, 
III, 248, 328. 

deformity of, 185. 

emulation in, 159. 

health of, 46, 10 1. 

home of, 225. 

imitation of, 145. 

intellectual development of, 46, 
loi, 363. 

moral training of, 51, 100, 176, 
226, 364. 

neglect of, 43. 

obedience of, 177, 338. 

qualities in, 188, 327. 
Christian spirit, to be inculcated, 55, 
Chronology, table of, 20. 
Civil government, need of, 89. 
Classirication, 254, 256, 259. 
" Colburn's Intellectual Arith.," 47. 

Page's experience with, ^1, 
Cold feet, danger of, 293. 
Collateral study, 50, 91, 307. 
Comenius, familiarity with, 34. 

quoted, 106, 107. 
Commonplace book, 143, 308. 
Common sense, need of, 333. 
Comparison of pupils unwise, 327. 
Composition, study of, 48. 
Composure, need of, 28. 
Concert recitation, 330. 
Conducting recitations, 138-154. 
Confinement, as a punishment, 221. 

solitary, 231. 
Confucius, a teacher, 366. 
Conscience, 52, 100, 172, 189, 218, 
241. 

activity in childhood, 175. 

law of, 196. 



Conscience, reward of, 172. 

should be sensitive, 29. 
Constraint, evil of, 206. 
Cooper's " Teacher's Advocate," 307. 
Corn, an object lesson, 122-126. 
Corporal punishment, 223-235. 

Horace Mann on necessity of, 
225-228. 

its abolition an ideal, 229. 

limitations, 235-238. 
Countenance, pleasing, 339. 
Courage, need of, 29. 
Course of study, 307. 
Courtesy, value of, 70. 
Cousin, teachings of, 99. 

works on education, 307. 
Cramming, evils of, 50. 
Credits, registers of, 201. 
Crime, cause of, 60. 
Cruelty in punishments, 213, 214. 
Culture, need of, 26. 
Curiosity, a good stimulant to acqui- 
sition, 179. 



D 



Davis's " Teacher Taught," 307. 
Decision in teacher, 189. 
Defining, a primary study, 46. 
Delay of reproof, 337. 
De Sacy's " General Grammar ' 

recommended, 84. 
Description, practice in, 481. 
Desks, neatness of, 336. 
Development, 99, 365. 
Diet of teacher, 286-297. 
Direction of pupils' study, 322, 323. 
Disciplinary punishment, 238. 
Discontent, a wrong, 339. 
Don'ts, 357. 
Drawing, 90, 257. 
Drawing-out process, 114-118. 
Dress, 69, 286, 293, 320, 321. 
Drink, water, 293. 
Driving, a good exercise, 289. 



INDEX 



375 



Dullness, 327. 
Duties, of a day, 254. 
Dwight, F., " District School Jour- 
nal," 307. 
teachings of, 99. 
Dwight, T,," Schoolmaster's Friend," 



Education, conception of, 95, 103. 

defined, 99. 

history of, 26. 

importance of, 106. 

liberal, 103. 

means of, 105. 

nature of, 103. 

necessity for, 44. 

not merely knowledge, 100. 

phases of, 2>2)i loi. 

professional, 30, 91, 96, 97, 301, 
306. 

quotations on, 103-108. 

right \aews of, 95-110. 

warning, 107. 

works on, 306. 
Emerson, G. B., teachings of, 99. 
Emerson, R. W., quoted, 67, 97, 

105, 285, 320. 
Emolument, teacher's, 299-303, 358. 
Employment, value of, 194. 
Emulation, 156-162, 174. 
Equality, in government, 187. 
Essays, subjects for, 25, 109, 137, 181, 

246, 276, 284, 297. 
Essex County Teachers' Association 

(Mass.), 315. 
Evasions to be avoided, 143. 
Examinations, public, 269-273. 
Example of teacher, 52, 53, 304. 
Exciting interest in study, 155-181. 
Exclusiveness in knowledge, 310. 
Excuses for defects in school, 325. 
Exercise, best conditions of, 289. 

of teacher, 286-297. 

time for, 287. 



I Exhibitions, 271. 
I Expedients, 345. 

Experience, need of, 36. 

Explanations, to be intelligible, 147. 
' Expulsion, as a punishment, 233. 

Extraneous business, in school hours, 

: 324- 

Extraordinary proceedings, 316. 
Eyes, use of, 332. 



Farming, a good exercise, 288. 
Fat, injurious as food, 292. 
Fear, appeal to, 206, 208. 
Fitness, to teach, 26-39. 
Food, proper, 2S6. 
Force, appeal to, 206. 
Fox, quoted, loi. 
Francke, a teacher, 366. 
Frankness, of teachers to parents, 

281. 
Froebel, familiarity with, 34. 



Gardening, a good exercise, 288. 
Gascoigne, quoted, 107. 
General exercises, 121. 
General knowledge, needed, 91. 
Gentlemanly manners, 282. 
Geography, as a primary study, 47. 

teacher's mastery of, 82. 
Geolog}', value to teacher, 91. 
Geometry, teacher's master}' of, 85. 
Gilman, quoted, 299. 
Gospel, admonitions of, 277. 
Government, school, 182-246. 

a means, not end, 202. 

equality in, 187. 

just views of, 186. 

requisites for, 1 82-191. 

uniformity in, 187. 
Grammar, an advanced study, 48. 

teacher's mastery of, 84. 



3/6 



INDEX 



Gratitude of parents and friends, 

368. 
Great Teacher, The, 369. 
Greek, value of study, 82. 
Greeley, Horace, quoted, 358. 



H 



Habits, of fortitude, 75. 

of order, 76. 

of pr-udence, 75. 

of study, 74, 267. 

of teacher, 67-77. 

significant thoughts about, 76. 
Hall, G. S., quoted, 76. 
Hall, Robert, quoted, 76. 
Hall, S. R., quoted, 147. 
Hall's " Lectures on School Keep- 
ing," 307. 
Hamilton, Wm., quoted, 106, no. 
Harris, Dr. W. T., familiarity with, 

34- 

quoted, 104. 
Health, bodily, 45. 

teacher's care of, 285-298. 
Heaven's approval of teacher, 368. 
Helps, quoted, 105. 
Higher branches, 333. 
Hill, Thos., quoted, 104. 
Hissing, 217. 
History, study of, 47. 

teacher's mastery of, 82. 
Hitchcock, anecdote about, 287. 
Hobbies, to be avoided, 134, 329, 

330. 
" Holding a nail," 215. 
Honesty, 57, 271, 281, 315, 338. 
Honor of teacher's calling, 365. 
Horseback riding good exercise, 

288. 
Humiliation, caution regarding, 221. 
Huntingdon, F. D., quoted, 104. 
Huxley, T. H., quoted, 103. 
Hypocrisy, 221, 227, 270, 271, 272, 
281, 315, 316, 335. 



Ideal school, 242. 
Illustration, art of, 342. 
Imitation in children, 145. 

not to be servile, 316. 
Impartiality in government, 188. 
Impression, first, 192. 
Inattention, habit of, 145. 
Incentives to study, 156-180. 
Indefinite expressions, 282. 
Inductions, 239. 
Injustice, 188, 320, 359. 
Inquiry, about schools, 280. 
Insight, need of, 27. 
Institutes, Teachers', 312. 
Intellectual growth of pupils, 46, 

362. 
of teacher, 360. 
Intellectual philosophy, teacher's 

need of, 88. 
Interest in study, 1 5 5-1 81. 
Interruptions, 260-263. 
Irritability, from, lack of sleep, 290. 



Johnson, Dr., quoted, 76. 
Journals, school, their value, 35. 
to be kept by teacher, 308. 



K 



Kant, quoted, 107. 
Kindness to pupils, 335. 
Knowledge, 100, 178, 303, 304, 

365- 
certain, 338. 

desire for, 176, 17S, 180. 
important step to, 57. 



not an end, 100. 
not education, 100. 
self, 361. 
unsafe, 98. 



INDEX 



377 



Lalor, works on education, 307. 
Lancasterian schools, 150. 
Language, accuracy necessary in 
teachers, 144. 

philosophy of, 84. 

purity of, 71. 
Latin, value of study, 82. 
"Leading" questions, 114. 
Lectures, faults of, 314. 
" Lectures of American Institute of 

Instruction," 307. 
Leibniz, quoted, 107. 
Lessons, assignment of, 266-269. 

short at first, 267. 
Levity, to be avoided, 183. 
Liberal education, 103. 
Library, teachers', 306. 
Light, value of, 289, 290. 
Literary qualifications of the teacher, 

78-94. 
Locke, John, quoted, 67, 107. 
Logic, need of, 88. 
Luther, Martin, quoted, 90. 



M 



Mann, Horace, familiarity with, 34. 

quoted, 81, 87, 106, 107, 145, 177. 

teachings of, 99. 

" Common School Journal," 307. 

" Lectures," 307. 

" Secretary's Reports," 307. 
Maps, value of, 47. 
Marion, quoted, 108. 
Mechanical habits of study, 49, 50. 
Memoriter exercises, 270. 
Mental Arithmetic, a primarv study. 
46. 

teacher's mastery of, %■},. 
Methodology, defined, 34. 

of use to the teacher, 34. 
Methods, 34, 1 10-135, Ho, 31 1. 312 

patent, 333. 



Milton, John, as a teacher, 99, 366. 

quoted, 105. 
Mind, crime of misleading, 24, 53, 
98, 102, 114, 178, 248. 

development of, 140, 177. 

dignity of, 23, 98, 176, 177, 364. 

not a passive recipient, 113. 

reached through body, 209. 
Miscellaneous suggestions, 320-357. 
Models, servile imitation of, 316. 

use of, 259. 
Modesty, in pupils, 282. 
Montaigne, quoted, 105, 107. 
Morality, 43, 51, 98, loi, 173, 177, 
191. 

how developed, 52, 100, 337, 346- 

354, 361. 
Moral philosophy, need of, 88. 
Moral principle, in teachers, 191. 
Moroseness to be avoided, 183, 339. 
Motives, 155, 173-180, 188. 

higher, 241. 

in punishment, 207, 217. 

of teaching, 21-24. 

proper, 362. 
Music, as recreation, 295. 

value of, 199. 
Mutual aid, 309-317. 
Mutual visitation of teachers, 310, 



N 



Natural history, value to teacher, 91. 
Natural order, 140. 
Natural philosophy, teacher's mas- 
tery of, 85. 
Neatness, lessons in, 335. 

need of, 68. 
Neck, overprotection of, 295. 
Neglect, of education, 43. 
Nervousness, from lack of sleep, 290. 
"Nibblings" at knowledge, 258. 
Normal schools, limitations of, 36. 

value of, 301. 



3/8 



INDEX 



O 



Obedience, pupil's, 182. 

Object lesson, on corn and seeds, 

121-131. 
Observation, 50, 127, 1 31-133. 
Olmsted, Professor, quoted, -^-^Z. 
Oral instruction, 310. 
Oral mania, 7,-^. 
Order, 70, 182, 192, 203, 205, 352. 

of nature, 140. 

of study, 46, 64. 
Organization, 249, 
Orthography, teacher's knowledge 

of, 79. 
Overgovernment, 202. 



Page, D. P., biographical sketch of, 
11-19. 

boyhood, ii. 

call to Albany, 13. 

characterization of, 16. 

country school-teacher, 12. 

crisis in life, 1 1 . 

death of, 16. 

friendship for Horace Mann, 14. 

growing school-teacher, 13. 

lesson of his life, 17. 

private school-teacher, 12. 

reasons for success, 1 7. 

resources of, 15. 

schoolboy, 12. 

solves a difficult problem, 14. 

success of, 16. 

table of chronology, 20. 

teacher student, 12. 

topical outline, 19. 
Pain, bodily, 237. 

Palmer's "Teacher's Manual," 306. 
Parents, 208, 368. 

acquaintance with, 249, 278. 

benefited, 132. 

explanations to, 279. 



Parents, folly of, 232, 328. 

gratitude of, 364. 

m.oral influence of, 56, 228. 

mutual duties with, 200, 328. 

responsibility of, 44, 208, 225. 

teacher's relation to, 277-283. 
Parker, quoted, 105. 
Partiality for studies, ^iZl)- 
" Patent methods," 333. 
Patience with parents, 328. 
Patrick, quoted, 138. 
Paul, St., quoted, 371. 
Pay of teachers, 299, 358. 

how to increase, 302, 303. 
Payne, Dr., familiarity with, 34. 
Payne, Joseph, quoted, 106, no. 
Pear tree, neglected, 41-43. 
Pedagogical books, recommended, 

319- 
Pedagogy, a necessary study, 33. 
Peevishness, evil of habit, 184. 
Periodical reviews, 268, 269. 
Personal habits of the teacher, 67-77. 
Pestalozzi, a teacher, 366. 

quoted, 21. 
Physiology, reviews in, 269. 

teacher's mastery of, 86. 
Plagiarism, 337. 
Plan, need of, 247, 249. 

of day's work, 252, 254, 256. 
Plane trigonometry, teacher's mas- 
tery of, 85. 
Plato, a teacher, 366. 

his ideal of the cultured man, 37. 

quoted, 104, 107. 
Pleasantness of countenance, 339. 
Plutarch, quoted, 106. 
Politeness, need of, 70, 71. 
Potter, Bishop, quoted, 199. 

teachings of, 99. 
Potter and Emerson's " School and 

Schoolmaster," 306. 
Pouring-in process, 11 2-1 14. 
Precept of the teacher, 51. 
Prejudice, caution against, 320. ■ 



INDEX 



379 



Press as promoter of education, 312. 
Principle, necessary in a teacher, 53. 
Privileges, loss of, 219. 
Prizes, 162-172. 

bad influence of, 171. 

difficulties of award, 166. 

improper motives for, 164. 

injustice in avi'ards, 167, 168. 

objections to, 163, 164, 165. 

reward success, not effort, 169, 
Profession of teaching, state of, 299. 

teacher's relation to, 299-319. 
Professional feeling, 314. 
Professional readings, 306. 
Programme, of a day's work, 256. 
Progress, slow, 267. 
Promptitude in recitations, 149. 
Proper incentives to study, 173-180. 
Proportion, distinguished from ratio, 
144. 

Page's difficulty with, 148. 
Psychology, an aid to the teacher, 32. 
Public examinations, 269-273. 
Punctuality, need of, 72. 

of teacher, 305. 
Punishment, 207-223. 

corporal, 223-235. 

defined, 207. 

disciplinary, 238. 

improper, 210. 

instruments of, 237. 

proper, 219. 

two classes of, 209. 
Pupils, examinations, 269. 

punishment of, 20S. 

self-respect of, 267. 

success of, 363. 

talented, 258. 

treatment of, 188. 

vicious, 226, 233. 



Qualifications of teacher, 78-94. 
Question, misuse of term, 144. 



Quintilian, quoted, 26. 
Quiz, 62, 75, 151, 153, 318. • 
Quotations, 21, 24, 26, 40, 51, 54, 66, 
67. 76, 77» 78» 94, 95, 103, 104, 
105, 106, 107, no, 138, 155, 182, 
194, 213, 247, 277, 285, 295, 299, 
310, 320, 334, 349, 353, 358, 367. 



R 



Rashness, defined, 29. 
Ratio and proportion, 144. 
Reading, a first study, 46. 

defects in, 80, 81. 

teacher's mastery of, 80. 
Reading circles, 92. 
Readings, 39, 77, 298, 306, 307, 318, 

319- 
Recesses, 263-266. 

duration of, 264. 

hour for, 265. 
Recitations, concert, 330. 

conducting of, 138-154. 

forms of, 152. 

in classes, 258. 

promptitude and accuracy in, 149. 

simultaneous, 150. 
Recreation, 305. 
Registers of credits, 201. 
Religious iinpression, 346. 
Religious training, 54, 55. 
Remembrance of pupils, 366. 
Reproof, delay of, 337. 

distinguished from reproach, 219. 
Resolutions, futility of, 240, 
Respect for property, 336. 

precedes attachment, 192. 
Responsibihty of the teacher, 40-66. 
Restraint, as a punishment, 220. 
Revenge, 207. 
Reviews, benefits of, 268. 

general, 269. 

in geography, 268. 

in natural philosophy, 268. 

periodical, 268, 269. 



330 



INDEX 



Rewards, distinguished from prizes, 
163. 

not necessary, 172. 

of God, 170, 371. 

of teacher, 300, 358-372. 

value of, 172. 
Rhetoric, need of, %?,. 
Richter, quoted, 105, 
Ridicule, to be avoided, 216. 
Right modes of teaching, 1 10-137. 
Right viev^s of education, 95-109. 
Rod, 223. 

a last resort, 231, 234, 239. 

substitutes for, 231-234. 
Rosenkranz, quoted, 105, 
Routine, to be avoided, 146. 
Rowing, good exercise, 288. 
Rule of right, supreme, 198. 
Rule of Three, Page's experience 

with, 148. 
Rules should be few, 195-198. 
Ruskin, John, quoted, 95, 105, 108. 



Sarcasm, to be avoided, 27. 
Sawing, a good exercise, 289. 
Scholars, classification of, 254. 

good and poor, loi, 102. 

morals of, 52. 

politeness of, 71. 

recitations of, 267, 

the best, 165. 
Scholarship, need of, 30, loi, 139, 

267. 
School arrangements, 247-276. 
School government, 182-246. 
School, ideal, 242. 
Schoolhouse, orderly, 335. 
Scolding, evils of, 211. 
Sectarianism, to be avoided, 55. 
Seeds, lesson on, 1 27-131. 
Self-confidence, value of, 186. 
Self-control, a duty, 341. 

need of, 28. 



Self-culture, 303-309. 

Self-government, 182. 

Self-sufhciency, 317. 

Seneca, a teacher, 366. 

Sense, need of, 27. 

Sensibility, wounding of, 327. 

Servile imitation, 316. 

Shakespeare, quoted, 51. 

Shame, appeal to, 208. 

Simultaneous recitation, 150. 

Singing, 199, 200, 353. 

Sitting on nothing, 215. 

Sketch of Page's life, n-20. 

Skimming, 266. 

Sleep, need of, 286, 290. 

Snappishness, habit of, 184. 

Social duties of teacher, 277, 294. 

Socrates, a teacher, 366. 

Solitary confinement, disadvantages 

of, 231. 
Solomon, quoted, 340. 
Spalding, quoted, 76. 
Spelling, a first study, 46. 
Spencer, quoted, 105, 106. 
Spirit of the teacher, 21-25. 
Splitting wood, 289. 
Stagnation of teachers, 306. 
Steele, J. Dorman, 242. 
Stern, quoted, 103. 
Stimulants to study, 178, 179. 
Studies, collateral, 50, 91, 307. 

direction of, 322. 

habits of, 74. 

interest in, 155-180. 

names of, 49. 

order of, 46, 64, 254-256. 

professional, 304, 319. 

sequence of, 322. 
Subjects for discussion or essays, 25, 
109, 137, 154, 181, 246, 276, 
284, 297. 
Suggestions, miscellaneous, 320-357. 
Sums, misuse of term, 144. 
Sunshine, 287. 
Suspicious spirit, to be avoided, 193. 



INDEX 



381 



Swaddling of neck, 297. 
Swctt, quoted, 106. 
Sympathy, need of, 28. 
Systematic study, 307. 



Tact, defined, 28. 
Tasks, as punishments, 221. 
Taylor, J. O., " District School," 307. 
Teacher, accomplished, 139. 

attainments of, 79-90, 97, 139, 299, 

312,371- 
benefited, 132. 
care of health, 285-298. 
diet of, 286-297. 
duty to community, 67, 96, 200, 

302, 312. 
duty to pupils, 166, 185, 248, 325. 
example of, 304. 
exercise of, 2S6-297. 
fitness to teach, 26-39. 
frankness of, 281. 
friend of pupil, 334. 
government of, 182, 227. 
honesty of, 271, 273. 
improvement of, 371. 
literary qualifications of, 78-94. 
motives of, 22, 54, 98, 334, 360. 
pay of, 299-303, 358, 359. 
personal habits of, 67-77.' 
punctuality of, 305. 
purity of, 51. 
relation to profession, 299-319, 

334, 371- 
relation to parents, 277-284. 
responsibility of, 24, 40-66, 166, 

174, 248, 360. 
rewards of, 358-372. 
self-denial of, 302. 
social duties of, 277, 294. 
spirit of, 21-25, 145, 250, 309, 

334- 
temptations of, 133, 304, 306, 309, 
317, 324, 325, 327, 328, 340. 



Teachers' Associations, 312. 
Teachers' Institutes, 312. 
Teaching, art of, 362. 

emoluiTieiit for, 299-303. 

fitness for, 26-36, 139. 

improvement in, 362. 

mechanical, 142. 

modes of, 1 10-137. 

practical, 313, 320. 

profession of, 299-317. 

science of, 140. 

secondary object, 23, 98, 140. 

works on, 306. 
Temple, Dr., quoted, no. 
Tetlow, John, quoted, 94. 
Text -book, independence of, in class, 

141. 
Thoroughness, 324, 361. 
Threatening, 198, 211, 231. 
Thunderstorm, its lesson, 347-349. 
"Time for everything," 262. 
Tobacco, evils of habit, 69. 
Topical Outlines, 19, 25, 37, 92, 
108, 135, 180, 242, 273, 283, 

297, 355, 372- 
Topical Quiz, 62, 151, 318. 
Torture, to be avoided, 213. 
Training, mental, 46. 

moral, 51, 176. 

physical, 45. 

religious, 54. 
Trigonometry, teacher's mastery of, 

85. 
Tyranny, evils of, 186. 



U 



Uniformity, value of, in government, 

187. 
Usefulness of teacher, 364. 



Vandalism, 335, 336. 
Views of education, 95-109. 



382 



INDEX 



Views of government, 186-189. 
Visits, of parents, 280. 

of teacher, 200, 201, 250, 251. 
Vocal music, 199. 
Vocation, of teacher, 360-371. 

W 

Waking up mind, 120-131, 198, 199. 
Walking, a good exercise, 287. 
Water," free use of, 290. 
Wayland, teachings of, 99. 
Wellington, Duke, quoted, 76. 
Whipping, 231, 235. 
Whispering, between recitations, 
26:!. 



White, E. E., quoted, 76. 
Woodward, Dr., quoted, 87. 
Word analysis, 82. 
Worship in prison, 60, 61. 
Writing, a primary study, 48. 

legibility of, 82. 
Written Arithmetic, study of, 

teacher's mastery of, 83. 
Written exercises, 64, 357. 
Wyse, teachings of, 99. 

writings on education, 307. 



Young, Colonel, quoted, < 
Young, Dr., quoted, 310. 



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